56. MELOPHUS. 569 



coverts, and dusky blackish tips to the primaries and inner secon- 

 daries ; upper tail-coverts deep maroon, with narrow blackish mar- 

 gins ; tail chestnut ; sides of face and entire under surface glossy 

 blue-black ; thighs and under tail-coverts maroon, the long coverts 

 laterally black ; under wing-coverts chestnut, as also the lower sur- 

 face of the quills ; axillaries black like the back : " bill dusky, 

 blackish above and fleshy at base of lower mandible ; feet fleshy 

 brown, the toes darker ; claws bluish, pale at tips ; iris dark brown " 

 (Scully). Total length 6 - 3 inches, culmen 0*5, wing 3-15, tail 2 # 6, 

 tarsus 0*75. 



Adult male in winter plumage. Differs from the summer plumage 

 only in having the black feathers obscured by ashy tips. The 

 fresh-moulted quills and tail-feathers appear to have a good deal of 

 black at the tips, which disappears as the breeding-season advances. 



Adult female. Quite different from the male. Brown above, 

 slightly mottled with blackish -brown centres to the feathers, the 

 long crest-feathers being also brown, with longitudinal black centres; 

 lesser wing-coverts like the back ; median and greater series blackish 

 brown, edged with rufous; bastard-wing and primary-coverts blackish 

 brown, fringed with dull rufous ; quills rufous, dusky brown exter- 

 nally and at the tips, the inner secondaries entirely brown, with 

 fulvescent margins ; tail-feathers brown, edged with fulvous, the 

 outer feather rufous, with a dusky-brown tip to the outer web and 

 an oblique dusky mark along the inner web ; the penultimate 

 feather with a rufous mark on the inner web ; lores and feathers 

 round the eye dull whitish ; ear-coverts and sides of neck dusky 

 brown ; cheeks and under surface of body dull ashy, the chin yel- 

 lowish white ; throat, breast, and sides of body dusky brown, 

 streaked with black ; under tail-coverts rufescent, with blackish 

 centres ; axillaries dusky brown like the breast ; under wing-coverts 

 and inner lining of quills rufous, the latter with dusky brown tips. 

 Total length 6-5 inches, culmen 0*55, wing 3*15, tail 2 , 55, tarsus G"7. 



Young males at first resemble the adult female, but may generally 

 be recognized by the quills, some of the primaries being chestnut at 

 the base, and there is generally a rufous mark on the third tail- 

 feather. A few black feathers in the crest and chestnut wing- 

 coverts seem to be the first approach to assuming the full plumage, 

 while the general tone of the plumage becomes blacker, and the 

 chestnut gradually spreads over the tail, leaving the ends of the tail- 

 feathers blackish. The latter character varies greatly, even in full- 

 plumaged birds, and probably disappears only in very old indivi- 

 duals, which have a perfectly chestnut tail. The maroon-coloured 

 upper tail-coverts are also only attained with maturity, and are 

 generally seen intermixed with black, partaking of the character of 

 the tail. I gather from the series in the Museum that the full 

 black plumage is not assumed the first year, but probably takes at 

 least two or perhaps three years to attain to its full perfection. 



Hah. Himalayas, ranging into the plains of India, as far west- 

 wards as Sind and eastwards into Southern China. Upper Burmese 

 provinces, Karen Hills, and once in Tenasserim. 



