THE ISLANDS OF THE BAY OF BENGAL. 227 



bill, from gape, 1*25 to 1%35 ; bill, at front, TO to 1*2 j 

 wings, when closed, reach to within from 1"5 to 1*75 of end 

 of tail ; weight, 4 to 5 ozs. 



The legs and feet are plumbeous, sometimes tinged with green; 

 the soles dirty grey; the bill carneous, or delicate pink; the 

 ridge of the culmeu, in some specimens, brown for the terminal, 

 one-half; irides carmine, and the eyelids brownish red. In the 

 adult male the lores and a broad stripe over the eye running 

 backwards till it meets the broad occipital band, like the latter, 

 black. The whole of the quills, the winglet, the primary greater 

 coverts, black, only some of the latter narrowly tipped 

 with yellow, and a small triangular yellow spot at the tips of 

 the tertiaries, and sometimes a very narrow edging of this color 

 at» the tips of the secondaries and even the later primaries. The 

 inner webs of the quills and the tips of the primaries may 

 perhaps be better described as very deep hair brown than 

 black. Four central tail feathers entirely black, or blackish 

 brown, generally, but not invariably, tipped with yellow. 

 The next pair broadly tipped with yellow, for about 0*9 

 on the outer webs, somewhat less on the inner, the next pair for 

 about 1*2, the next pair for about 1*8, and the external pair for 

 fully 2 inches. These proportions vary considerably in various 

 specimens, but they suffice to give a general idea. Similarly 

 there is generally less yellow on the inner web, than on the outer 

 web, but this is not invariable. The whole of the rest of the bird 

 is a brilliant golden yellow, generally deepest on the breast, 

 back, and upper abdomen. In some specimens the third, fourth, 

 and fifth primaries have a narrow white or yellowish white 

 margin just at the emarginations. 



The adult female has the yellow everywhere less bright, and 

 nearly the whole mantle suffused with a dusky greenish shade ; the 

 portions of the wings and tail, but especially of the former, which 

 are black, or almost black in the male, are in the female much 

 moi-e decidedly brown ; the whitish edgings of the third to the 

 fifth primaries are much larger, longer, and more conspicuous 

 than in the male, and in some specimens extend to the second and. 

 the sixth also. The outer webs of the secondaries and tertiaries, 

 and some of the later primaries are more or less broadly tinged 

 with dull olive yellow, the amount varying greatly in different 

 specimens. The basal portions of the central tail feathers simi- 

 larly, but more strongly, suffused. 



In the young bird the upper and lower tail coverts are as in 

 the adults. The back and head are a dull somewhat olivaceous 

 yellow, a dull brown band indicates the future position of the 



