250 



" the pure air and the bright heaven, its thoughts are amidst the loveli- 

 "ness of creation, it leads the mind as well as the eye to the morning mist, 

 "the noonday glory, and the twilight cloud, to the peaceful peace of the 

 " mountain heaven, to the cloudy repose of the green valley ; now ex- 

 "piatingon the silence of stormless jEther, now on the rushing of the 

 " wings of the wind. It is indeed a knowledge which must be felt to be iu 

 "its very essence full of the soul of the beautiful." 



We can reconiineiid this little book to our readers; it is 

 full of interest from cover to cover. 



lEMtoriaL 



THE INDIAN BLUE CHAT (Larvivom bruntiea) : From a 

 private letter received from Capt. Perreau I have culled the fol- 

 lowing: — First, however, I had better quote Gates' and Jerdon's 

 descriptions of this lovely species. 



The Indian Blue Chat (L. bninnea). "Male: Lores, cheeks and ear 

 coverts, black, produced as a band down the sides of the neck ; a distinct 

 ■white supercilium to the nape; the whole upper plumage, wing-coverts, 

 and the exposed parts of the wings and tail, dull blue; point of the chin 

 and a narrow line bordering the black cheeks, white; throat, breast and 

 sides of the body, bright chestnut; under wing coverts, blue; remainder 

 of lower plumage, white. Bill, black ; legs and feet, fleshy ; iris, very dark 

 brown."— (O AXES). 



The Blue Wood -chat {L. cyana). Male : Above dusky indigo-blue, with 

 a white superciliary streak ; lores and ears, black; beneath, bright rufous 

 (the feathers all dusky blue at their base), albescent towards the vent and 

 under tail-coverts ; high coverts cross-barred with blue and white. The 

 feiuale, according to Hodgson, is brown above; white beneath; cheeks 

 breast and flanks, rusty. Bill, dusky; legs, pale fleshy; irides, brown. 

 IvCngth 6 inches; extent lo ; tail 2; tarsus i i-6ths ; bill at front J.' 



(JERDON). 



According to Capt. Perreau's description of their beauty it 

 must be seen to be appreciated, and although yet unknown to 

 English aviculttire are already possessed of two vulgar names, 

 as above. Capt. Perreau describes their plumage as follows . — 

 Above dark blue (not dull as in Gates) shining in the sun ; 

 bright and rather light chestnut underneath, with a shining 

 white eyebrow ; the lower abdomen and under tail coverts are 

 white as per Gates, but do not show much ; dainty and rather 

 long thin legs. 



