240 CEATEEOPODID^E. 



doubtful. Its affinities for some of the genera of this subfamily, 

 such as Cutia, appear to me to be strong. 



In Irena the bill is shorter than the head, stout, curved, with the 

 tip notched ; the nostrils are oval, partially concealed by the frontal 

 plumes ; the rictal bristles are well developed. Some hairs spring 

 from the nape, somewhat as in the Bulbuls. The head is not 

 crested. The wing is rather pointed, and the tail-coverts are ex- 

 tremely long. The tarsus is short. 



254. Irena puella. The Fairy Blue-bird. 



Coracias puella, Lath. Ind. Orn. i, p. 171 (1790). 



Irena puella (Lath.}, Blyth, Cat. p. 214 ; Horsf. fy M. Cat. i, p. 273 ; 



Jerd. B. I. ii, p. 105 ; Stoliczka, J. A. S. B. xxxix, pt. ii, p. 318 ; 



Wald. Ibis, 1871, p. 170 ; Hume N. $ E. p. 298 ; Hume, S. F. ii, 



p. 226, iii, p. 130 ; Hume $ Dav. S. F. vi, p. 328 ; Hume, Cat. 



no. 469 ; Legge, Birds Ceyl. p. 466; Sharpe, Cat. B. M. vi,p. 177 ; 



Bingham, S. F. ix, p. 184; Gates, S. F. x, p. 211 ; id. B. B. i, 



p. 209 ; Barnes, Birds Bom. p. 192 ; Hume, S. F. xi, p. 186; Oates 



in Hume's N. $ E. 2nd ed. i, p. 157. 



Hnet-pya-sate, Burm. 



Fig. 72. Head of /. puella. 



Coloration. Male. The whole upper plumage, the lesser wing- 

 coverts, and the under tail-coverts shining ultramarine-blue 

 with lilac reflexions ; sides of the head and the whole lower plu- 

 mage deep black ; greater wing-coverts, quills, and tail black, some 

 of the coverts tipped with blue, and the middle tail-feathers glossed 

 with blue. 



Female. The whole upper plumage, the lesser wing-coverts, 

 and the lower tail-coverts brownish blue, with the edges of the 

 feathers brighter ; middle tail-feathers and the outer webs of all 

 the others, except the outer pair, like the upper plumage ; re- 

 mainder of tail dark brown ; primaries and secondaries dark brown ; 

 the greater wing-coverts, primary- coverts, and tertiaries dark 

 brown, with a blue tinge on the outer webs ; sides of the head and 

 whole lower plumage blue, very similar to the upper parts. 



The young are like the female. The male changes into adult 

 plumage about March, and the change takes place without a moult ; 

 the feathers of the upper parts first become fringed with bright 



