THE ISLANDS OF THE BAY OF BENGAL. 201 



The young" cristatus, as is well known in a similar stage, is 

 quite as brightly rufous as the adult, though the rufous is per- 

 haps generally darker, and the head is the most rufous of the 

 whole upper parts, whereas in the young of this species the only 

 trace of rufous is on the rump and upper tail coverts. 



There are two points of difference between these two species, 

 which seem to me (though even my large series do not permit 

 me to assert it positively) to hold good generally, viz., that the 

 earlier primaries in cristatus are generally narrower than in the 

 present species, and that when the tails are quite perfect and 

 fully developed the external laterals in lucionensis are more than 

 an inch, while in cristatus they are only about half an inch, 

 shorter than the central ones. 



Davison remarks that : — " This strike is tolerably common in the 

 vicinity of Port Blair, keeping to gardens, and the cleared parts 

 on the settlement. I did not notice it on any of the other islands 

 of the Andamans, or on any of the Nicobars, except Camorta, 

 where I obtained one specimen in the cotton fields. On Table 

 Island, however, I saw one in the Lighthouse-keeper's gardens. 

 In habits it does not differ from L. erythronotus ; it is a very- 

 silent bird, and I do not think I have ever heard its note. I 

 did not succeed in finding any nest, though I obtained several 

 specimens of young birds." 



I saw specimens at Galatea Bay, and others saw one or more 

 at Montschall. 



This species appears to be a permanent resident in the Anda- 

 mans ; at any rate we have specimens killed in every month, 

 from December to October. 



266.— Hylocharis philomela, Bole. (4.) 



This species appears to be rare in the Andamans. Mr. 

 Davison only obtained one in the neighbourhood of Port Blair, 

 and we shot two on the Little Cocos. It is not at all a shrike-like 

 bird in its appearance, and cannot be classed with Tephrodornis, 

 in which genus, under the specific name of grisola, Blyth placed 

 it. The following are the dimensions recorded in the flesh : — 



Length, 6*12 to 6'5 ; expanse, 10 - 6 to 11 ; wing, 3*4 to 3*5 ; 

 tail, 2-4 to 275; tarsus, 075 ; bill, from gape, 0'8 to 0-82; 

 bill, at front, 0'47 to 0"5. 



The legs and feet are plumbeous, the bill black ; the irides 

 brown. 



The whole of the lores, cheeks, ear coverts, forehead, top and 

 back of the head a dull grey brown, darker on the head and 

 back of the neck ; back, scapulars, and wing coverts similar, 



