THE VIOLET CUCKOO. 115 



barred with white and greenish purple ; outer tail-feathers with large white 

 spots on both webs. 



In the adult female the whole lower surface, from the chin to the tip of 

 the under tail-coverts, the lores, cheeks, ear-coverts and sides of neck are 

 white, closely barred across with greenish bronze ; the bars on the under 

 tail- coverts are broader and wider apart than elsewhere ; the head, neck, 

 back, rump and upper tail-coverts are shining bronze, tinged with copper on 

 the head ; the forehead and feathers over the eye are speckled with white; 

 the lesser wing-coverts are brilliant bronze, each feather narrowly edged with 

 rufous ; the greater coverts are less brilliant, and are broadly notched all 

 round with rufous ; primaries brown glossed with green, very narrowly 

 edged with rufous, and the later ones also tipped with the same ; the inner 

 web of all with a broad streak of rufous along the basal two thirds of the 

 edge ; secondaries and tertiaries greenish bronze, edged all round with 

 rufous ; centre pair of rec trices uniform bronze- green, tinged with blue 

 near the tip ; the next pair has on each web alternate triangular patches 

 of greenish brown and rufous, the bases of the brown patches and the 

 apices of the rufous ones lying next the shaft in the next pair the brown 

 patches are less in extent, each pair being fully separated from the next by 

 the rufous and the tip is white ; the next pair again is very similar, the 

 brown being still further reduced and the white tip broader; the outer 

 pair is rufous, with four black bars, and on the outer web between each 

 pair of black bars there is a white patch and the tip is broadly white. 



In less mature females the central rectrices are barred greenish brown 

 and rufous ; the white spots on the outer pair extend to both webs ; the 

 upper plumage everywhere is closely barred with rufous ; the lower plumage 

 at all ages is the same. 



Immature males have from a very early age one or more violet feathers 

 showing out in the plumage, and their recognition is consequently easy. 

 The change goes on by an easy transition, and not by a moult. In October 

 the change appears to have just begun, and by February the full plumage 

 is assumed. The young male never assumes the adult plumage of the 

 female, the change to mature male plumage taking place while the upper 

 surface is densely barred with rufous. The young male differs in nothing 

 from the young female, except that the green bars below are much broader 

 and further apart. 



In the nestling the head and neck are rufous streaked with black ; the 

 remainder of the upper plumage 1 , wings and tail brown; the secondaries, 

 tertiaries and the four central tail-feathers with rufous spots on the 

 marginal halves of the webs ; the other tail-feathers, the wing-coverts, 

 scapulars, back, rump and upper tail-coverts barred with rufous ; lower 

 plumage pale fulvous, barred with dull brown. 



Male : bill orange-yellow ; iris red ; eyelids green, the edges red ; 



