RUTICILLINJ). 209 



GENUS, Calliope, Gould. 



Bill of moderate length and strength; wings moderate, first 

 quill very short, second equal to the seventh ; tail very slightly 

 rounded; the outer feathers being a little shorter than the 

 penultimate pair ; tarsus moderately long, stout ; the feet large ; 

 hind-toe long ; claws long, not much curved. 



Calliope camtschatkensis, Gm. 



512. Jerdon's Birds of India, Vol. II, p. 150. 



THE COMMON RUBY-THROAT. 



Length, 6 ; wing, 3 ; tail, 2*5 ; tarsus, 112 ; bill at front, 0'5. 



Bill horny-brown ; irides dark-brown ; legs livid or purplish. 



Above olive-brown, beneath dull whitish ; a band above and 

 below the eyes whitish ; intermediate space black ; feathers of 

 the throat somewhat scaly and stiff, light scarlet or ruby-red, 

 with silvery edges, more or less surrounded with black ; the breast 

 ashy, flanks bright olive-brown, and belly whitish ; axillaries 

 slightly rufescent. 



The female has in general no trace of the ruby-throat, 

 which is whitish, and the lores brown ; but some old females 

 have a tinge of the ruby color. 



Jerdon states that " once on boardship, a little south of Bom- 

 bay, one took refuge in the month of November." This is 

 the only record of the occurrence of the Common Ruby-throat 

 within our limits. 



GENUS, Cyanecula, Brehm. 



Bill rather short, slightly conic, straight ; wings moderate ; 

 third and fourth quills equal and longest ; fifth a little shorter ; 

 second equal to sixth ; tail rather short, nearly even ; tarsus 

 moderately long ; claws very slightly curved. 



Cyanecula suecica, Lin. 



514. Jerdon's Birds of India, Vol. II, p. 152 ; Butler, Guzerat ; 



Stray Feathers, Vol. Ill, p. 478; Deccan, Stray Feathers, 



Vol. IX, p. 405 ; Murray's Vertebrate Zoology of Sind, p. 147 ; 



Swinhoe and Barnes, Central India ; Ibis, 1885, p. 125. 

 THE INDIAN BLUE-THROAT. 



Length, 6'2 ; expanse, 9'25 ; wing, 3 ; tail, 2'25 ; tarsus, 1 ; 

 bill at front, 07. 



Bill dusky-horn ; gape yellow ; irides dark-brown ; legs 

 brownish. 



Above pale olive-brown, the feathers of the crown slightly 

 centred darker, and with a whitish supercilium ; lower parts 

 whitish ; the under tail-coverts more or less tinged with rufes- 

 cent ; throat and breast bright shiny azure -blue, the former 

 generally mingled with whitish along the middle, and having a 

 large ferruginous spot in front of the neck ; below, and border- 



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