296 CICOMlIDiE. 



Ind. B. iii. p. 268 (1890) ; Mnnn, Ihis, 1894, p. 71 (Calcutta 

 distr., April). 

 Dissoura episco]iu?, Be'chen. Tog. <leutsch-Ost-Afr. p. 59 (1894: 

 Bagomojo; Kingani). 



Adult male. General colour above black, glossed with metallic 

 green and purple, more especially on the hind-neck ; the entire 

 back glossed with metallic green as well as the upper tail-coverts ; 

 tail-feathers black, not to be confounded with the under tail-coverts, 

 which are white ; the outer rectrices black, graduated, and forming 

 a fork ; wing-coverts like the back, but more distinctlj' glossed, 

 especially on the lesser series, which are metallic purplish red ; 

 quills black, glossed with slaty externally and with metallic green 

 on the inner face of all the quills ; crown of head blue-black as far 

 as the occiput ; nape and entire neck white as well as the throat, 

 the chin less thickly clothed with feathers ; breast black, slightly 

 glossed with metallic green, but more strongly with reddish purple, 

 especially on the fore-neck and chest ; abdomen and under tail- 

 coverts white, the long ones stiffened and resembling tail-feathers ; 

 axillaries and under wing-coverts black with a gloss of metallic green : 

 " bill in general black, tinged with red on the culmen, the tips, 

 and the margins ; legs and toes red ; claws reddish horn-colour; iris 

 crimson ; eyelids and facial skin plumbeous " (E. W. Oates). Total 

 length about 36 inches, culmen 6-5, wing 20, tail 7'2, tarsus 7. 



Adult female. Similar to the male; "iris very pale, almos 

 whitish, hue " (//. ./. Rainey). Total length 34 inches, culmen 5-7, 

 wing 18-5, tail 7'2, tarsus 6-2. 



Younq birds differ from the adults in being much browner and 

 not having so much gloss, the black feathers on the head being 

 replaced by bronzy brown, the piirplish gloss on the wing-coverts 

 almost absent, and the purple gloss on the breast being replaced by 

 dull bronzy brown. The forehead generally shows a basal line of 

 white feathers, but these are also apparent in some of the old birds, 

 and are apparently shed by them in course of time. 



Sab. The same as that of the genus. 



Cape Colony. Sir A. Smith [C.]. 



Cape Colony. Lord Derby [P.]. 



Huilla, Beuguela, March (An- Shelley Coll. 



chieta). 



Sambhur, March 29 {11. M. Hume Coll. 



Adam). 



Kheila, Gurgaon, June 8 {C. T. Hume Coll. 



Binr/l/r/ni). 



Kurnal, Feb. Hume Coll. 



Etawah. Hume Coll. 



Oudh. Pinwill CoU. 



Oudh, Feb. Hume Coll. 



Nepal. Hodgson Coll. 



Nepal (B. H. Hodgson). India Museum. 



Manoura, Nepal Valley, .JulylO. Dr. J. Scully [C.]. 



Balaji, Nepal Valley, July 19 Hume Coll. 

 (/. Scully). 



