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S. Cheela of India. I am not familiar with Bacha, not having 
a specimen of that bird in my museum, to compare the Anda- — 
man birds with, so on this head I am unable to make any 
remarks, though I have reason to believe it is a totally different 
bird from Fulco Bacha, Daud., which is the type of Spilornis, 
G. R. Gr. 1840. 
“The Spilornis Eigini frequents swampy grounds, particularly 
where there are abundance of trees; here they feed on Frogs, 
Reptiles and Fish, the two former being their principal food. I 
have never seen more than one, or occasionally two together ; 
on being disturbed they fly up at once into a tree, and remain 
so stationary amongst the branches and foliage, that notwith- 
standing being a large-sized bird they are difficult to discover. 
I have never seen them, on Pass, Chatham or Viper island, but 
constantly on all other parts of the settlement, particularly in 
the vicinity of Phoenix Bay, nor have I ever seen this species 
soaring in the air, which I have on some few occasions seen 
the Indian S. Cheela doing.” 
In uniting Spilogaster, Elgini, and Bacha, I am merely fol- 
lowing the best authority on these points, I mean of course 
Mr. Gurney ; knowing the bird only by the specimens in the 
Asiatic Society’s and Col. Tytler’s museums, I am not compe- 
. tent to form any independent opinion. Mr. Blyth had the 
following remarks on this species in the Ibis :— 
“§. Spilogaster, nobis (J. A. S. B. XXII. p. 353.) Hematornis 
Elgini, Tytler (J. A. 8. B. XXXII. p.87,) from the Andaman 
Islands, where it occurs together with the preceding; also H. 
Bacha of Colonel Sykes’s list of the birds of the Dukhun (P. 
Z. 8. 1832, p. 79,) as identified from a specimen in the India 
Museum presented by Colonel Sykes, being doubtless that 
referred to (doc. cit.). This well-marked race inhabits the 
Indian peninsula and Ceylon, and also the Andamans, from 
which last named locality a fine pair are now living in the 
Zoological Gardens. It isa smaller bird and not so handsome 
as S. Cheela, with less developed crest and much less of black 
upon the crown, the tail markings quite different, having the 
black subterminal band conspicuously much less broad. Some 
individuals may very probably show considerable similarity to 
the Malayan S. Bacha, which would account for Professor 
Schlegel identifying a Cinghalese specimen with the Malayan 
bird ; still the tail bands should be differently placed.” On this 
the edition had the following note :— 
“We learn from Mr. Gurney that he has never seen an 
Indian example of this bird, but that specimens from Ceylon 
and the Andamans appear to be absolutely identical with S 
