THE MASKED FINFOOT. 353 



Family HELIORNITH1DJS. 



Genus PODICA, Less. 



704. PODICA PERSONATA. 



THE MASKED FINFOOT. 



Podica personata, G. R. Gray, P. Z. S. 1848, p. 90, Aves, pi. 4; Hume, S. F. iii. 

 p. 185 ; Bl. B. JBurm. p. 162 j Hume $ Dav. S. F. vi. p. 465 ; Hume, S. F. viii. 

 p. 113 ; Oates, S. F. x. p. 241. 



Description. Male. Forehead, lores, a supercilium extending to the 

 nape, cheeks, the anterior part of the ear-coverts, chin, throat and front 

 of the neck black ; this black patch bordered by a white line terminating 

 on either side at the posterior corner of the eye ; crown, nape and upper 

 neck dark ashy ; sides of neck olive-brown ; back, rump, scapulars, upper 

 tail- co verts and the whole of the wing brown tinged with green; sides of 

 the breast and of the body brown ; breast and abdomen white, the latter 

 barred with brown ; vent and under tail-coverts brown, closely barred with 

 whitish, the longer feathers of the coverts almost wholly brown ; under 

 wing-coverts sooty brown ; tail plain brown, tipped paler. 



The female has the chin, throat and front of the neck white with a black 

 margin all round which extends a little over the lores, and has the same 

 white outer border as has the black mask of the male. (Tickell.) 



Iris hazel-brown; tarsus and toes light green, the webs turning to 

 yellow towards the edges ; claws horn-colour ; bill orange-yellow, paler at 

 the tip ; edges of eyelids yellow. The female has the bill dull yellow and 

 the iris straw-yellow. 



Length 22 inches, tail 5'8, wing 10, tarsus 2'1, bill from gape 2*3. The 

 female is considerably smaller. 



The Masked Finfoot is an excessively rare bird, of which very few speci- 

 mens have been procured. The only example I ever met with was secured 

 by Mr. Richardson when we were shooting Ducks in the Eugmah swamp 

 some years ago ; it flew up from under the canoe which was being poled 

 through matted vegetation. Another specimen was brought to me by 

 Lieut. Lloyd, R.E., who shot it in some part of Karennee. Colonel Tickell 

 observed it in Teuasserim, and Mr. Davison procured it in this Division at 

 Amherst, Mergui and Bankasoon. 



This bird was originally described from Malacca, where Mr. Davison 

 also met with it, and it is known to occur in Cachar and Assam. A skin 



VOL. n. 2 A 



