THE BLUE-EARED BARBET. 137 



bluish ; eyelids red, the edges brown ; iris brown ; legs coral-red ; claws 

 dark horn. 



Length 6' 8 inches, tail T8, wing 3*4, tarsus '8, bill from gape 1. The 

 female is rather smaller. 



The Crimson-gorgeted Barbet, or, as it is frequently called, the " Copper- 

 smith/' is found abundantly in every portion of the Province and in 

 Karcnnee. 



It is spread over the Indo-Burmese countries and the whole peninsula 

 of India with Ceylon, and it occurs in Siam, Cochin China, the Malay 

 peninsula, Sumatra and the Philippine Islands ; it probably also inhabits 

 Borneo. 



The Coppersmith is a familiar well-known little bird, found mostly in 

 open country and in gardens and compounds. It is also seen in all thick 

 forests, but not so numerously as elsewhere. Its note, which somewhat 

 resembles the sound caused by tapping a piece of metal with a hammer, is 

 uttered throughout the day, the bird being generally perched on the 

 topmost bough of a tree, and directing its voice in all directions by turning 

 its head. It breeds in March and April, laying either two or three eggs in 

 a hole of a tree, usually at no great height from the ground. From April 

 to the end of the rainy season this Barbet becomes comparatively silent. 



520. XANTHOLJEMA CYANOTIS. 



THE BLUE-EARED BARBET. 



Bucco cyanotis, Bl. J. A. S. B. xvi. p. 465. Megalaema cyanotis, Marsh. Mon. 

 Capit. pi. xxxiii. fig. 3 ; Bl B. Burm. p. 74 ; Hume $ Dav. S. F. vi. p. 155 

 Hume, S. F. viii. p. 88; Bingham, S. F. ix. p. 1G6 j Oates, S. F. x. p. 192. 

 Xantholaema cyanotis, Hume, S. F. iii. p. 77. 



Description. Male and female. The forehead, a line over the eye, ear- 

 coverts, chin and throat dull blue ; the forward half of the crown and a 

 patch at the base of the lower mandible black tinged with green ; a patch 

 under the eye and a broad streak under and over the ear-coverts red ; 

 remainder of the plumage green, darker above and yellower below ; 

 primaries and secondaries dark brown edged with green ; there is a tinge 

 of blue on various parts of the body, especially the abdomen and tail. 



Bill black ; mouth bluish black ; eyelids and naked skin of face blackish 

 plumbeous ; iris dark brown; legs dull greenish yellow; claws black. 



Length 6*7 inches, tail 2' 2, wing 3*2, tarsus '8, bill from gape T05. 



X. duvaucelii, from the Malay peninsula, is closely allied; it differs 

 chiefly in wanting the blue ear-coverts. 



