CALOENIS. 515 



In all adults the legs, feet, and bill are black, the irides crimson 

 scarlet. In younger birds the legs and feet are brownish or 

 bluish black, the irides yellowish white ; at a later stage the irides 

 are pale yellow with a reddish-brown tinge ; then they become 

 orange-yermilion, and finally scarlet-crimson (Hume fy Davison). 



Length 8'5 ; tail 3-2 ; wi'ng 4-1 ; tarsus -9 ; bill from gape 1. 



Making small allowances, the plumage and size of this species 

 are very constant throughout its great range. Birds from the 

 Andamans are somewhat larger on the whole, but some birds from 

 Tipperah run very close to them in this respect. Singapore speci- 

 mens are the smallest. The Andaman race, in addition to being 

 somewhat larger, is of a much darker green, almost a black in some 

 lights. I do not, however, propose to separate this insular form, 

 as I have had a difficulty in separating some of the Andaman birds 

 from others from Tipperah and Burma. 



Distribution. Tipperah ; Dacca ; Cachar ; the Khasi hills ; Arra- 

 kan : the southern half of Tenasserim from Tay to Malevvun ; the 

 Andamans and Nicobars ; extending down the Malay peninsula 

 to Sumatra, Java, and Borneo. 



Habits, $*c. This Cdlornis associates in large flocks and frequents 

 trees, never descending to the ground. It breeds in holes of trees, 

 in the recesses of old bridges and buildings, in holes in the banks 

 of rivers, and in the tops of palm-trees. The eggs, which appear 

 to be three in number, are pale greenish blue spotted and blotched 

 with reddish and purple. They measure about 1 by '74. 



2L2 



