CHAPTIA. 319 



1877, p. 315 ; Sharpe, Cat. B. M. iii, p. 244 ; Hume $ Dav. S. F. 

 vi, p. 218 ; Hume, Cat. no. 282 bis. 



Cliaptm aenea ( Vie ill.), Bli/th, Cat. p. 200 ; Horsf. 8f M. Cat. i, p. 150 ; 

 Jerd. B. 1. \, p. 438 ; Hume, N. $ E. p. 192 ; id. S. F. iii, p. 100 ; 

 Armstrong, S. F. iv, p. 320 j Sharpe, Cat. B. M. iii, p. 243 ; 

 Anders. Yunnan E.vped.,Aves, p. 652; HumefyDav. S. F. vi, p. 217; 

 Hume, Cat. no. 282; Gates, S. F. viii, r>. 166; Scully, S. F. viii. 



Anders. Yunnan E.vped.,Aves, p. 652; HumefyDav. S. F. vi, p. 217; 

 Hume, Cat. no. 282 ; Gates, S. F. viii, p. 166 ; Scully, S. F. 

 p. 272 ; Bincjham, S. F. ix, p. 173 ; Gates, B. B. i, p. 223 ; Barnes, 



Birds Bom. p. 155 ; Hume, S. F. xi, p. 100 ; Gates in Hume's N. 

 E. 2nd ed. i, p. 210. 

 Buchanga, Beng. ; Chota Kesraj at Gorakhpur ; Chaptia, Nep. 



Coloration. The whole plumage black glossed with metallic 

 bronze or lilac ; lower abdomen, vent, and under tail-coverts dull 

 brownish ; under wing-coverts generally tipped white, the axillaries 

 less frequently so. 



Bill, legs, and feet black ; iris red or reddish. 



Length about 9*5 ; tail 4-5 to 6 ; wing 4-2 to 5 ; tarsus *65 ; bill 

 from gape 1. 



It seems impossible to separate the race of this bird which in- 

 habits India and the greater part of Burma from the race which 

 is found in Southern Tenasserim, the Malay peninsula, Sumatra, 

 and Borneo. Typical specimens may be selected from the Hima- 

 layas and from Sumatra which present certain points of difference, 

 but these are by no means striking, and the two varieties are 

 connected together by other specimens which it is difficult to assign 

 to either race. 



Birds of this species from India have the wing of the average 

 length of 4-7 inches. In Tenasserim the wings of this bird average 

 the same, but some few specimens can be found with wings no 

 longer than 4'2, and in Sumatra we meet with wings measuring 4'4. 

 The tails vary immensely in length even in the same localities. In 

 Sumatra they range from 4 to 4-2, and in India they ordinarily 

 measure 4*7 ; but a remarkably fine Sikhim bird has the tail actually 

 6'2 in length, and others from the same place have it no longer 

 than 4-4. I think, therefore, that we may discard size as a cha- 

 racter by which the two races may be separated. 



With regard to colour, Indian birds have a perceptible grey 

 dulness on the rump, and they have the abdomen generally, but 

 not always, greyish. Sumatrau birds have the rump as black and 

 as glossy as the other parts of the upper plumage, and the abdo- 

 men, as a rule, dark-coloured. They have, moreover, a lilac gloss 

 on the upper plumage, which is generally absent in Indian birds, 

 but some fine Sikhim specimens show traces of it. There are no 

 other differences between the two races. 



Distribution. The western portion of India from Travancore up 

 to Khandala ; the Himalayas from Mussooree to the extreme end 

 of the Assam valley ; Eastern Bengal ; thence through the entire 

 eastern portion of the Empire, ranging down the Malay peninsula 

 to Sumatra and Borneo. 



