on Dr. Jerdon's 'Birds of India.' 343 



the specimens I have seen," he continues, " were less vivid, 

 particularly the blood-red, which is much duller on the head 

 and chest ; in several specimens the scarlet had entirely given 

 way to a dull grey colouring, which would appear to have been 

 the consequence of the bird having just performed the task of 

 incubation." (Does the male bird take his turn on the eggs ?) 

 " H. hodgsoni has the total length 131 in.; wing 5| in.; tail 8 in.: 

 H. erythrocephalus, total length 11 1 in. ; wing 5 in. ; and tail 6 in." 



Dr. Jerdon states (vol. i. p. 200) that the Trogonidce are 

 " without cseca." My decided impression is that they possess 

 them. In all the passerine Insesso)'es which I have examined, 

 the cseca are invariably present but minute. In all the non- 

 passerine Insessores they are either absent or else considerably 

 developed (precisely to the same extent as in the Owls) . They 

 are absent in the TrochilidcB, Cijpselida, Halcyonidce, Bucerotida, 

 PromeropidfB (ivera), Picidce (inclusive of /nc?2ca/or ?), Rham- 

 phastida, Capitonidce, and Musophagidce (including Coliust). 

 They are present in Leptosomus (?), Coracias*, Eurystomiis, 

 Merops, Nyctiornis, Galbula, Momotus, Todus, Bucconidce, Tro- 

 gonida (?), Caprimulgid(B, and all the various forms of Cuculidce. 



The peculiar disposition of the toes in Trogonida is duly 

 mentioned by Dr. Jerdon, and was first made known by myself 

 (P. Z. S. 1838, p. 20). 



117. Merops viridis; Gould, B. As. pt. vii. pi. 



" Observed in the Jordan Valley by Mr. Herschell " (Tristram, 

 P. Z. S. 1864, p. 433). The African race of this bird (M. 

 lamarcki, Cuv. ; M. viridis, Riippell ; M. viridissimus, Swains. ; 

 M. agyptiacus, Kittlitz, and Lichtenstein, according to Cabanis) 

 hardly differs more than do the two slight Indian varieties 

 named by Mr. Hodgson. It has "much more ferruginous on 

 the wings, extending across both webs of the primaries and 

 secondaries; and the throat is yellowish-green, tinged with 

 ferruginous, having scarcely a trace of verditer except on its 

 extreme lateral margin bordering the black eye-streak, and very 

 little of it even there" (J. A. S. B. xxiv. p. 254). Those which 



* To Coraciklce must, I suspect, be referred the Pseudochelidon eurysto- 

 mina, Hartlaub (Viyis, 1801, p. 322, misnamed Psulidoprogne cypselina in 

 pi. xi.) ; but the tail-feathers would be an anomaly in the group. 



2 a2 



