224 Major It. G. Wardlaw Ramsay on 



Count Salvadori describes the female as being like the 

 male, but with very faint purple and golden reflections on 

 the neck, and with transverse bars of black, especially on the 

 nape and upper part of the back. 



8. MACROPYGIA K.UFIPENNIS. 



Macropygia rufipennis, Blyth, J. A. S. B. xv. p. 371 

 (1846) ; Walden, Ibis, 1873, p. 315 (p. 247) ; Hume, Str. 

 Feath. ii. p. 266 (1874). 



Adult. General colour above chestnut, browner than in 

 M. emiliana, but without the vinous tinge; the mantle 

 minutely freckled with rufous and barred with brown : 

 beneath, chin, throat, and sides of head paler chestnut, 

 remainder of the lower surface chestnut, barred with brown, 

 brighter on the abdomen, which is freckled; amethystine 

 reflections on the breast and sides of neck ; under wing- 

 coverts, axillaries, inner webs of the primaries, and the lower 

 tail-coverts cinnamon-rufous. 



Young. Younger birds have the bases of the feathers of 

 the crown and a spot on the outside of each feather dark 

 brown, giving the head the appearance of dark striations ; 

 the back is much browner and less chestnut in some, and 

 the breast is of a uniform bright chestnut ; the mantle, as 

 in the young of most species, is brown, transversely barred 

 with yellowish or whitish buff or pale chestnut ; the pri- 

 maries are almost entirely rufous both above and below. 



The sexes do not differ. 



In examining the very large series in the British Museum, 

 I have based my conclusions only on the specimens which I 

 believe to have had their sexes determined by Mr. Davison 

 or myself. I regret to say that little reliance can be placed 

 on the sexual determinations of the taxidermist who made 

 up a large proportion of the skins, at first in Mr. Davison's 

 service, then in mine, and lastly in that of Capt. Wimberley. 



I have been led to a different conclusion from Mr. Hume 

 (/. c), who thought the unbarred birds were the older. I 

 find that excess of rufous, and especially the dark striation of 

 the head, is nearly always indicative of youth. Wing 7*3 to 

 7 '7 inches, tail 8, tarsus 1, bill 0*9. Iris light blue, encircled 



