SARCIDIORNIS MELANOTA 



31 



Description. Adult Male. — Hecad and neck white, spotted witli metallic 

 black feathers, coalescing more or less upon the crown, nape, and hind-neck; 

 lower neck and whole lower plumage white, tinged sometimes with rufous- 

 grey ; rest of upper plumage and wings black, glossed with green and blue, 

 except on the secondaries, which are glossed with brown, and the scapularies, 

 on which the gloss is purple ; tail brown ; sides of the body tinged with 

 grey ; a black mark (almost a demi-coUar) on the sides of the neck, and 

 another black band in front of the under tail-coverts descending from the 

 rump. Lower back grey. 



Female. — Like the male, Imt smaller and duller ; head and neck more 

 spotted with black, but the black less glossy in character, and the gloss on 

 the upper parts also much less developed. Lower back, rump, and upper 

 tail-coverts all grey. 



Young. — Like the female, but still more spotted about the head with a 

 dull blackish-brown ; the black of the back and wings also is replaced by 

 brown and they are without gloss. 



Nestling. — " Upper parts greyish-brown ; under parts greyish-white ; 

 upper part of the head brown ; a whitish frontal band runs on each side of 

 the head over the eyes : a white crescentic band bounds behind the brown 

 colour of the upper part of the head ; a narrow brown band starts from the 

 ear-coverts and reaches a brown band on the hind neck ; two white patches 

 on the side of the back, at the base of the wings, and two others on the 

 sides of the rump ; posterior edge of the wing whitish." (Salvadori .) 



" The young are dull earthy brown above and dirty white below." 

 illume.) 



Colours of soft parts. — Iris dark-brown, that of the young is said to be 

 even darker ; bill and comb black, legs and feet plumbeous. 



The female and young have no comb. 



Measurements. Male. — Length 28"5 (Huvic) to 34 inches (Jerdon) ; wing 

 13'37 {Hume) to 16 {Jerdon) ; tail 5'25 to 6 ; bill from gape 2'5 to 275, at 

 front 2'5 (Jerdon) ; comb 2 to 2"5 in the breeding season only ; tarsus 2'62 

 (Hume) to 3 (Salvadori.) 



Female.— Length about 25 to 27 inches, wing 11 to 11'5 (Salvadori), 

 12 to U (Jerdon.) 



Distribution. — The Nukhta is found throughout the Indian Con- 

 tinent, though absent here and there where the country is unsuitable, 

 but is certainly more abundant towards the west than in the east. 



Hume says : — 



" I do not know of its "occurrence in the Puujaub, Trans-Sutlej, 

 or in Scind, except as a mere straggler to the eastern-most portions, 

 I have no record of its appearance in Sylhet, Cachar, Tipperah, 

 Cbittagong, or Arakan." 



