328 



MNIOTILTIDJi;. 



Ridffw. Bull. U.S. Nat. Mus. no. 21, p. 17 (1881); Tacz. P. Z.S. 

 188:3, p. G ; id. Orn. Ferou, p. 465 (1884); Coues,Key N.Amer. 

 B. 2nd ed. p. 301 (1884). 

 Mniotilta cgerulea, Gray, Hand-l. B. i. p. 240, no. 3473 (1869). 



Adult male in summer plumarie. General colour above greyish 

 blue, the mantle and scapulars centred with black streaks, the hind 

 neck and the rump uniform, the upper tail-coverts again broadly 

 centred with black ; lesser wing-coverts like the back ; median and 

 greater coverts black, externally edged with greyish blue and broadly 

 tipped with white, forming a double wing-bar ; bastard-wing and 

 primary- coverts black, the latter fringed with greyish blue ; quills 

 blackish, edged with ashy bluish, somewhat tinged with olive on the 

 secondaries, the inner ones rather broadly margined with white ; 

 tail-feathers black, edged externally with greyish blue, and with 

 white near the end of the inner web, which has a large subterminal 

 ovate spot of white on all but the centre feathers, increasing slightly 

 in size towards the outer ones ; crown of head rather brighter blue 

 than the back, the base of the forehead somewhat blackish, and an 

 indistinct blackish band along the sides of the crown ; feathers 

 above the eye brighter blue like the crown ; lores and sides of face 

 and ear-coverts ashy bluish, dusky along the upper edge of the 

 latter ; cheeks, throat, and under surface of the body white, with a 

 broad band of black washed with greyish blue across the fore neck ; 

 sides of upper breast washed with greyish blue ; sides of the body 

 aiid flanks broadly streaked with black and washed with greyish 

 blue ; thighs dusky, edged with white ; under tail-coverts white ; 

 under wing-coverts and axillarics white with dusky bases, washed 

 with greyish blue along the edge of the wing ; quills dusky, broadly 

 edged with white along the inner web : " bill bluish black ; feet blue ; 

 iris blackish brown " (Auduhon). Total length 4 inches, culmen 0'5, 

 wing 2-6, tail 1*05, tarsus 0*6. {Mus. Salvin and Godman.) 



Adult male in ivinter jplumage. Only differs from the summer 

 plumage in being a little more ashy on the upper surface, which 

 scarcely shows more than faint traces of the black streaks on the 

 back ; the entire under surface is white, with more or less distinct 

 black streaks on the sides of the body, the baud on the fore neck being 

 hidden by white, and only perceptible on disarranging the feathers. 



Adult female. Different from the male. Ashy olive above, without 

 any mesial black streaks on the mantle ; rump a little lighter ashy; 

 upper tail-coverts more bluish grey ; lesser wing-coverts bluish 

 grey ; median and greater coverts dusky, edged with bluish grey 

 and tipped with white, forming a double wing-bar ; bastard-wing 

 and primary-coverts dusky blackish, the latter fringed with bluish 

 grey ; quills dusky, externally washed with light bluish grey, more 

 or less tinged with olive, the inner secondaries edged with white ; 

 tail as in the male, with the white spots on the inner web rather 

 smaller; crown of head pale greyish blue, contrasting with the back ; 

 a distinct eyebrow of dull white, slightly washed with olive-yellow ; 

 lores, feathers below the eye, and eyelid ashy whitish ; ear-coverts 

 pale ashy, with a faint tinge of oKve; cheeks pale olive-yellowish 



