THE FATIK-JAL 125 



''that black plumage is, to some extent, 

 a sign of age rather than a seasonal dress." 

 In the new edition of Avi-fauna of Bri- 

 tish India Mr. E. C. Stuart Baker divi- 

 des Aegithina tiphia into three sub-spec- 

 ies, all of which become more or less 

 black on the upper body in the breeding 

 season. His description of the breeding 

 plumage of the male Aegithina tiphia 

 tiphia is — "Lores, forehead, crown, back, 

 upper tail-coverts and tail black". But 

 further down he adds, ''The description 

 of the male given above is quite exceptional, 

 more green and much less black being 

 the rule and many breeding males have 

 practically no black on the upper parts 

 other than the wings and tail". This is 

 rather puzzling as it shakes the very founda- 

 tion of his "Key to subspecies A",* where 



* Key to Subspecies 

 Upper parts greenish, more 

 or less marked with 

 black from crown to 

 rump, the bases of the 

 feathers showing through 

 as greenish ^. tiphia tiphia, J breeding. 



