8 TIMELIID^. 



specimens he has examined. It is scarcely necessary to say that the changes 

 of plumage in " tiphia " and its races are still not quite understood. Mr. 

 Sharpe's account of the results obtained by him are given as follows, He 

 says : 



1. JE. viridissima and sE. nigrolutea are both distinct species. JE. tiphia 

 is the most widely spread form, and embraces five races, or sub-species, which 

 cannot infallibly be recognized. 



2. The females of all the races of JE. tiphia cannot be recognized one 

 from the other. 



3. In Southern India and Ceylon the full-plumaged birds are black on the 

 head and back. Birds with more or less black are found in other parts of the 

 Indian Peninsula and the Burmese countries ; but black-backed birds are 

 rather the exception than the rule. In the Malayan Peninsula, however, 

 black-backed birds again occur, not to be distinguished from South Indian 

 specimens. 



4. In East Central India there is a black -backed form like sE. zeylonica, 

 but easily distinguished by its paler colouration. This race is noticed by 

 Mr. Hume in Str. F.> 1877, p. 439. 



5. ^E. scapular is from Java never has any black on the males, which 

 appear to resemble 1 the females , excepting in being a little darker on the 

 wings. 



6. JE. viridis from Sumatra and Borneo is the JE. scapularis of authors 

 from the abovementioned Islands. From an examination of numerous 

 individuals, I am certain that it never has a black-backed plumage ; and it 

 might be considered a distinct species were it not that the adult males can be 

 matched by others' from Ceylon in the stage of plumage which they assume 

 before getting the black head and back, but when they are brilliant yellow 

 below with black wings and tail the lores and forehead of JE. viridis is 

 also brilliant yellow. This is peculiar to the adult Bornean birds. 



415. ^githina viridissima (-#/>.), Tweed, Ibis, 1877, p. 304, pi. v. ; 



Sharpe, Cat. B. Br. Mus. vi. p. 6 ; Oates, B. Br. Burm. i. p. 20. lora 

 viridissima, Bonap., Consp. Av. i. p. 307 ; Salvad., Ucc. Born. p. 192 ; 

 Hume, Sir. F. v. p. 427 ; Hume and Dav., Str. F. vi. p. 327 ; Hume, 

 Str. F. viii. p. 99. The GREEN DWARF BULBUL. 



Adult Male. Plumage dark grass green above and below, slightly yellower 

 on the abdomen and vent, and lighter on the lower back and rump ; lores 

 blackish ; a narrow line above the eye and a large spot below it yellow ; upper 

 tail coverts and tail black, also the scapulars ; wings black, with a double white 

 wing bar formed by the white tips to the greater and median series of coverts ; 

 quills black, narrowly edged with green ; thighs yellow, the feathers with 



