THE ISLANDS OF THE BAY OF BENGAL. 217 



who shot it on Mount Harriet, South Andaman, and from this I 

 identified it as the present species ; at the Nicobars one adult 

 male in the white plumage, and two chesnut-plumaged females 

 were obtained. I saw one other in the chesnut garb, with length- 

 ened tail feathers on Teressa, Nicobars/'' 



290.— Myiagra azurea, Bodd. (21.) 



The Myiagras of the Andamans and Nicobars are very- 

 puzzling, the more so that they belong to two different types. The 

 Myiagras of the Nicobars, which we obtained on almost every 

 single island of that group, belong, so far as coloration goes 

 (except that the colors are somewhat brighter), to the Indian form 

 in which the abdomen, vent, and lower tail coverts are white or 

 faintly bluish white, only a single specimen of our large series, 

 approaching in the blue tinge of the lower parts to the least 

 typical of the Andaman males ; but they certainly average much 

 smaller than Continental Indian specimens. In a large series 

 from Ahmednuggur, Seonee, Raipoor, Calcutta, Commilla, 

 Dacca and Kumaon, &c, I find that the wings vary from 

 2" 65 to 3; but in only four out of twenty birds are they below 

 2 '8. When we take similar number of Nicobar birds we find 

 that the wings vary from 2 '6 to 2' 75 ; but in all but three they 

 are below 2'7. The bill too is simikrly smaller. I do not 

 consider this difference in any way sufficient to separate the 

 birds, but still it is constant, and therefore deserves to be noticed. 



Davison remarks. — u This bird is tolerably abundant on all the 

 islands of the Nicobars, but it does not occur in the Andamans, 

 where it is replaced by the next species. In habits, &c, it does 

 not differ from the Indian bird. It breeds at the Nicobars, but I 

 did not succeed in obtaining either nest or eggs." 



The following are the dimensions of this race : — 



Length, 5-75 to 6-25; expanse, 8'12 to 8*5; wing, 2'5 to 

 2-75 ; tail, 2-82 to 3*1. 



The legs and feet are dull plumbeous blue ; the bill is smalt 

 blue, tipped and edged black, and the irides are brown. 



290 bis.— Myiagra Tytleri, Beamn. (42.) 



In the Andaman bird the dimensions are those of the Indian. 

 In twelve adult males the wing varies from 2*7 to 3 ; and only 

 one specimen has the wing less than 2'82. The length is 6*75 

 to 7 ; expanse, 8'75 to 9*12; and the tail from 3 to 3*4. 



The legs, feet, bill, and irides are as in the Nicobar and Iudian 

 bird ; but besides, being as a whole, as brightly colored as the 

 Nicobar and more brightly colored than Indian birds ; the typical 



