ARACHNECHTHR/V. 361 



quills with pale rufous ; tail blackish, the margius greenish and the 

 lateral feathers tipped pale ; entire lower plumage, under wing- 

 coverts, and axillaries pale yellow. 



Bill dark brown ; the gape and mouth cinnamon-red ; iris dark 

 hazel ; eyelids plumbeous ; legs black ; claws brown. 



Length 4; tail 1*2; wing 1-95; tarsus -45; bill from gape "65. 



Distribution. This species is spread over the whole of Arrakan, 

 Pegu, and Tenasserim, but appears to be nowhere very common, 

 except in the southern portion of the latter division. Grodwin- 

 Austen obtained this Sun-bird in Tipperah, whence Hume also 

 records it as well as from Chittagong. It extends down the Malay 

 peninsula to Sumatra, Java, and Borneo. The nest has not yet been 

 found within Indian limits. 



Habits, $c. This species probably breeds from March to June. 

 A nest is described as being of the ordinary type, without a portico 

 over the entrance, and composed of glistening red-brown scales 

 taken from the stems of ferns felted together and covered with 

 black moss-roots and cocoon-silk. The eggs, two in number, are 

 brown with a darker ring round the larger end, and measure about 

 •58 by -1. 



897. Arachnechthra pectoralis. The Malay Yellow- 

 breasted Sun-bird. 



Nectarinia pectoralis, Horsf. Tr.Linn. iSoe. xiii, p. 107 (1822) ; Bluth, 



Cat. p. 225. 

 Cvrtostomas pectoralis (Horsf.), Horsf. fy M. Cat. ii, p. 739 : Hume, 



°N. # E. p. 155. 

 Arachnechthra pectoralis {Horsf.), Wold. Ibis, 1870, p. 25 ; Ball, S. 



F. i, p. 64 ; Hume, S. F. ii, p. 196 ; Oates in Humes N. fy E. 2nd 



ed. ii, p. 259. 

 Cinnyris pectoralis (Horsf.), Shelley, Mon. Nect. pp. xxvii, xxxvi, 87, 



165, pi. 53 ; Gadow, Cat. B. M. ix,p. 88 ; Hume, Cat. no. 234 bis. 



Coloration. Male. Forehead, anterior part of crown, and cheeks 

 violet-blue ; lores black ; upper plumage, sides of head and neck 

 olive-yellow; wings brown, each feather margined with olive-yellow; 

 tail blackish, the lateral feathers broadly tipped with whitish ; chin 

 and throat metallic violet, bordered by a band of metallic blue, which 

 gets broader on the upper breast and is narrowly margined with 

 maroon ; lower plumage bright yellow ; pectoral tufts deep yellow 

 tinged with red ; under wing-coverts very pale yellow. 



Female. Upper plumage olive-yellow, as also the sides of the 

 head and neck; entire lower plumage deep yellow; wings brown, 

 each feather edged with olive-yellow ; tail blackish, the lateral 

 feathers broadly tipped with white. 



Legs, feet, and bill black ; iris brown (Hume). 



Length about 4-5 ; tail 1 -4 : wing 2T : tarsus -55 ; bill from 

 gape "7 to *9. 



There are two distinct races of this bird in the Nicobar Islands. 



