222 CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE ORNITHOLOGY OF INDIA. 



breast, abdomen, and sides, the ear-eoverts and sides of the 

 neck, and a more or less distinct broad collar round the back 

 of the neck, bright orange ferruginous ; the whole cap, viz., 

 forehead, crown, and occiput, a brownish orange ferruginous ; 

 from the centre of the lower margin of the eye, and from its 

 posterior angle, descend two, narrow, brown stripes, each about 

 half an inch long, these are only clearly visible in the fresh 

 bird, and in really good specimens, and are more strongly 

 marked in the females than in the males ; the flanks are a 

 slatey blue grey ; the vent and lower tail coverts pure white. 

 In the male, the entire mantle, scapulars, and outer webs of all 

 the quills, but the first two primaries, the rump and upper tail 

 coverts, a blue slatey grey. The first two primaries and the inner 

 webs of all the quills, rather pale hair brown. In the female the 

 interscapulary region, the upper back, the lesser coverts, the outer 

 webs of the secondaries, and to a certain extent the outer webs of 

 the rest of the wing feathers are dark greenish olive. The rest 

 as in the male. The tail in both sexes is blackish brown ; the 

 external laterals only much paler and narowly tipped albescent ; 

 the central tail feathers and the outer webs of the other laterals 

 suffused with slatey grey, all the feathers obsoletely barred. In 

 birds with worn or abraded feathers, the slatey tinge disappears a 

 good deal from the tail, and the obsolete barring becomes rather 

 more distinct. In all specimens the outer webs of the primaries 

 are paler than those of the rest of the wing feathers. All but 

 the first two or three quills have a large white patch on the 

 inner webs at their bases. The wing lining about the carpal 

 joint and along the ulna is white or yellowish white; the feathers 

 sometimes tipped pale brown. The rest of the lower wing 

 coverts are pale brown, sometimes tipped white. 



The intensity in the color of the lower parts varies greatly, 

 in different adults, but not with reference to sex, rather appa- 

 rently according to the period that has elapsed since the last 

 moult. 



This bird is one of the most exasperating possible to the collec- 

 tor; it is constantly met with along the shore, just where the 

 jungle begins, and the snowy coral beach ends. It is never 

 seen until it moves, and it only moves to dart at once into the 

 jungle, where, in a two yards flight, it becomes invisible. One 

 never gets anything but the snappiest of snap shots at it ; 

 and, as according to my experience, it constantly allows you to 

 get within ten yards of it before it moves, one has generally 

 only a choice, between not firing or blowing the bird to 

 pieces. 



