420 BIRDS OF INDIA. 



Mr, Blyth gives the Bengal name, which signifies ' the beloved 

 of seven damsels,' generally applied to P. peregriinis. 



272. Pericrocotus flammeus, Fokster. 



Muscicapa apud Forster — Blyth, Cat. 1159 — Horsf., Cat. 

 185 — Phasn. flammeus, Swains., Zool. 111. 52— and Jerdon, 111. 

 Ind. Orn., pi. 11, m. and f. — Sykes, Cat. 38 — Phari Balal-Chasm, 

 H. — Suli Sangam (the male), and Arsan buradi (the female), of 

 the Halapyks. 



The Orange Minivet. 



Descr. — Male, with the whole head and neck, upper back, sca- 

 pulars, and wings, glossy blue-black ; wings with a broad orange- 

 red band, formed by all the quills having the central portion red, 

 and the edges of the lesser wing-coverts also ; tail with the two 

 central feathers black, the next pair black, tipped red, and all the 

 others blackish at the base, and orange-red for nearly half their 

 terminal length. 



The female has the head, neck, back, and wing-coverts, ashy ; the 

 forehead narrowly tinged with yellow ; the lower back, rump, and 

 upper tail-coverts, greenish-yellow; the quills and tail dusky black, 

 the former with a yellow wing-spot, and the latter with the lateral 

 tail-feathers yellow. 



Bill black ; legs brown-black ; irides dark brown. Length 8| 

 inches ; wing 3-j^q ; tail 4 ; bill at front |-^ ; tarsus f. 



This species appears confined to the juni^les of the South-west 

 of India and Ceylon. I have seen no specimens from any other 

 locality. Mr. Blyth gives Assam with doubt, and Dr. Horsfield had 

 only a drawing from McLelland ; so it is most propably an allied 

 species. It extends from Travancoreto the latitude of Bombay, and 

 is found in all the lofty jungles, from near the level of the sea to 

 5,000 feet on the Neilgherry slopes. It is perhaps most abundant 

 at moderate elevations. It is tolerably common through all the 

 forests of Malabar, and from its bright and showy colors, often 

 attracts the notice of the traveller. It keeps generally near the 

 tops of high trees, usually in flocks of four or five ; the sexes often 

 apavt from each other, all frisking about, picking insects off a 



