TERPSIl'HONE. 211 



the innermost quills white, with a longitudinal dark mark do\vn the centre; 

 tail white, with black shafts and narrow blackish edgings to the feathers ; middle 

 tail feathers elongated; 12-13 inches in length. 



Adult Female, Crown of head and crest glossy greenish black ; lores, sides 

 of face, sides of neck, and throat greyish ; rest of under surface of body 

 white ; the flanks greyish and tinged with rufous ; back, wing coverts and 

 inner secondaries bay ; tail light chestnut ; bill bluish ; legs and feet pale blue ; 

 irides dark brown. 



Length of Male. Including elongated tail feathers 17 inches; bill o'8<; ; 

 wing 3*65; tail 5*5; middle-feathers 13. Female^ length 7*5 ; wing 3*45; 

 tail 4. 



Hab. India and Ceylon to Nepaul and Cashmere. Abundant on the 

 Malabar Coast and in Southern India. Occurs in the Punjab, N. W. Pro- 

 vinces, Oudh, Bengal, Rajputana, Central India, Kutch, Kattiawar, Jodhpore 

 and N. Guzerat. In Sind it is a winter visitant, arriving in September. 



The Paradise Fly-Catcher is more or less a permanent resident of forest and 

 wooded districts of India, and although it occurs in open districts as Sind and 

 Raj putana, it is only a winter visitant in those parts. The highest elevation 

 it has been found at is about 5,500 feet. Jerdon says it is very partial to bamboo 

 jungle. In its habits it is restless and wandering, flitting continually from 

 branch to branch and tree to tree, and feeds on flies and other insects, always 

 capturing them on the wing, sometimes picking them off a leaf or bough. It 

 breeds throughout the outer ranges of the Himalayas, in the warmer valleys, 

 up to 5,500 feet, also in the Dhoon Terai, Oudh, and the Central Provinces. The 

 season lasts from May to July. The nest is cup-shaped, and composed of 

 moss, fibres, and grass, ornamented on the outside with white silky cocoons. 

 Eggs 3 to 4 in number, longish oval in shape ; in color pinkish white, speckled 

 with brownish red ; size o - 8i X o'6. 



In regard to the change of plumage of the Paradise Fly-Catcher, I entirely 

 agree with Mr. Sharpe's views, viz., that the changes are not seasonal but 

 due to age. 



The nestlings in their first dress has a dull chestnut plumage, with the under 

 surface of the body (abdomen) white, and this is the plumage of the females 

 of the first year, except that the sides of the breast are greyish. In the 

 second year the chestnut becomes duller, and this is the first stage of the 

 males, which also have the steel green crown, crest and throat. In the following 

 stage the long red tail is acquired, the quills and primary coverts are edged 

 with white, and the inner secondaries only retain some of the rufous of the 

 back. This is certainly the breeding plumage of the male in the second 

 year. It is during the third year that the male changes to the full white 

 plumage during autumn. Once the white plumage is assumed there is no 



