104 



The specimen before me is a female, and has the crown and elon- 

 gated crest-feathers Avholly deep black ; the upper parts are yellowish 

 olive and the lovver olive-brown ; all the remiges have three round 

 white spots on the inner webs of each ; the lo\ver wing-covers are 

 pale yellowish, margined with brown. In all other respects the bird 

 agrees with the description above-quoted. Its totai length is l(Ą 

 inches; beak to front, 1^ inch ; to gape, ii inch ; -vv-ing, 5^ 

 inches ; medial rectrices, 4J inches ; external ditto, 2^ inches ; tarsus, 

 lOį lines ; middle toe and claw, 13 lines; reversed ditto, 10 lines ; 

 hind-toe entirely -vvanting. 



l'he beak is of moderate length, the culmen nearly straight, the 

 genys ascending, the apex compressed, a slight but distinct ridge 

 running parallel to the culmen, and the nostrils are covered -vvith 

 incumbent feathers. As the Tiga tridactyla resembles in its style of 

 plumage the orange-backed Avoodpeckers, Brachypternus and Chryso- 

 colaptes, so the more uniform coloration of this species calls to mind 

 the green woodpeckers which form the typical Gecini. But the beak 

 is stronger and more adapted for chopping wood than in the latter 

 group, and resembles more the structure of that organ in the red- 

 winged and yellow-crested Gecini, such as G. nipalensis (Gray), G. 

 mentalis (Tem.), &c. 



Tiga tridactyla. — Identical with specimens sent by Mr. Jerdon 

 from Madras, except in being smaller. The wing measures only 5 

 inches, Avhile in the Madras ones it is 5^ inches. Mr. Blyth has 

 already noticed this distinction, but I cannot consider it as a spe- 

 cific one. 



Hemicercus rubiginosus, Svvains. Birds W. Af. v. 2. p. 150. (Picus 

 ruhiginosus, Eyton.) 



Hemicercus concretus (Tem.), PI. Col. 90. (Dendrocopus sordidus, 

 Eyton.) 



Cuculus Sonnerati, Lath. — This species, \vhich occurs also in 

 Southern India, .ippears never to assume a typically adult plumage, 

 being invariably barred with brown and rufous above, and brown 

 and \vhite below. 



Cen'tropus rectunguis, Strickland. C. corpore nitide ceeruleo- 

 nigro, alis rujis, primariis fusco terminatis, ungue hallucis sub- 

 brevi, recto. 



Body and tail glossy black, -svith a deep blue tint on the head, 

 neck and breast ; wings -vv'hoUy rufous, the primaries slightly tipped 

 ■with fuscous ; hind-cla\v short and straight. Totai length, 14-15 

 inches; beak to front, lį inch; to gape, 1^ inch; height 5 inch; 

 width, į inch ; wing, 6 inches ; medial rectrices, 7į inches ; external 

 ditto, 6į inches ; tarsus, 1| inch ; claw of hind-toe, į inch. Nearly 

 allied in size, form of beak and coloration to C. philippensis, BufF. 

 PI. Enl. S24. (C. bubutus, Horsf.) of India, Java and the Philippines; 

 but differs in the shorter wings and tail, and in the hind-claw being 

 almost perfectly straight, and only half an inch long ; \vhile in C. 

 philippensis (sent by Mr. Jerdon from Madras) this claw is three- 



