248 AEDEID^. 



gloss ; wings and tail blackish, glossed with, slate-colour on the 

 coverts, and with green on some of the latter and on the quills ; 

 crown, of head and crest-plumes slaty grey ; sides of face and cheeks 

 black, the latter slightly mottled with rufous ; from the hinder part 

 of the cheeks a band of golden straw-colour runs down the sides of 

 the neck, the lower feathers being elongated ; the throat and fore- 

 neck prettily variegated with chestnut, black, and white, the chest- 

 nut predominating on the outer web of the feathers and the white 

 on the inner web, with a longitudinal streak of black at the end of 

 the latter, the long overlapping feathers on the sides of the chest 

 being slaty grey with white margins, so that the general appearance 

 of the throat and chest is streaked ; remainder of under surface of 

 body slat}' gvey, including the under wing-coverts, axillaries, and 

 quill-lining : " bill dusky reddish brown, lighter below ; facial skin 

 purplish brown ; eyelids bluish ; feet dark brown ; claws dark horn- 

 colour ; iris golden brown or pale red " {E. W. Oates). Total length 

 20 inches, culmen 3"3, wing 8, tail 2*5, tarsus 2*65, middle toe and 

 claw 3. 



Adult female. Does not differ from the male. Total length 20 inches, 

 culmen 3-2, wing 8, tail 2-7, tarsus 2-6, middle toe and claw 2-9. 



The slatj-grey shade in the plumage appears to be a sign of the 

 breeding-season, as some of the winter specimens are black, with 

 a greenish gloss on the upper surface. 



Younr/ birds are much browner than the adults, and can imme- 

 diately be recognized by their more freckled appearance, the feathers 

 of the upper surface having ochraceous margins. The mottling of 

 the rufous on the neck is much as in the adult birds, but there is 

 more white and less rufous, and the chest-feathers are much more 

 broadly edged with white ; the breast is dusky brown as well aa 

 the sides of the body ; the abdomen is white ; the sides of the face 

 and ear-coverts are chestnut, with a little streak of white at the 

 base of the mandible. 



Nesilinri. Similar in colour to the young bird described above, but 

 very much shaded with rufous, and having a great deal of rufous on 

 the sides of the face ; the crown covered with down of an ochreous 

 colour, the throat and chest very rufous. 



Hah. From Southern and Central China below the River Yangtze, 

 through the Burmese countries to the Malay Peninsula, Sumatra, 

 Java, Borneo, the Philippines, and Celebes. Occurring in Sind, 

 South-western India, and Ceylon. 



a,b. c? $ imm. Eastern Nan-a, Sind, May {S. Hume Coll. 

 sk. Doiy). 



c. Juv. sk. Calicut. Hume Coll. 



d. Ad. sk. Anjango, Travancore, Dec. {F. Hume Coll. 



Bowdillon). 



«, /. Ad. et juv. Cejlon [S. Chapmiin^-H.Nevill). Tweeddale Coll. 



sk. 



ff. 2 ' imm. sk. Ceylon, Dec. 1 8 ( TT. V. Legge). Dr. R. B. Sharpe [P,]. 



/(. Imm. sk. Calcutta, April. Hume Coll. 



i-m. Ad.sk. Dacca. Hume Coll. 



n. cJad.sk. Faridpur, June 17 (/. i?. Cri)j/;s). Hume Coll. 



