THE ISLANDS OF THE BAT OF BENGAL. 231 



specimens and later received ten others, and in no single speci- 

 men were the four outer rectrices on either side white. I may 

 add that as often as not eveu in true saularis there is a narrow 

 dusky margin to the inner webs of the innermost of the four 

 pairs towards the bases. In the Andaman bird the third pair 

 have always a certain amount of dusky black on the inner mar- 

 gin, and the fourth pair is black on both margins, which, black is 

 often so extensive that the white is reduced either to an acute- 

 angied wedge, whose base is at the tip of the feathers, or to a 

 triangle similarly placed, while rarely the whole white becomes 

 obsolete and the entire fourth pair of feathers are black. As 

 regards the tail and the somewhat coarser bill, and in fact as 

 far as I can see in every respect, the Andamanese birds are not 

 separable from those from the north of Sumatra. When we take 

 the females, we find that their upper parts are decidedly darker 

 than in Indian specimens, are in fact intermediate in color 

 between Sumatran and Indian birds. On the whole I am not 

 sure that the birds ought not more properly be united with 

 mindanensis than with saularis ; but the females are generally 

 not nearly dark enough for the former, and I have therefore 

 for the present retained the name of saularis for this race. 



Lord Walden's observations in regard to five other 

 specimens appear to coincide with mine, and but for 

 Mr. Ball's remarks as to the specimen which he obtained I 

 should have been inclined to sepai'ate the Andaman race as a dis- 

 tinct species. It is geographically well-defined, it does not appear 

 to occur northwards on the Cocos, Preparis, &c, while southwards 

 in the Nicobars we never observed it. If ultimately it be deter- 

 mined to separate this race it may stand as andamanensis nobis. 

 I may add that the males of this race are generally much more 

 strongly tinged on the sides and flanks with greyish dusky than 

 our continental specimens. 



This species of course breeds in the Andamans ; a nestling bird 

 obtained on the 24th August, a female, has the entire upper 

 surface a dull dark sooty brown. The wing patch as in the 

 adult, and the wings and tail feathers as in the latter ; but the 

 black everywhere replaced by a dull and faded hair brown, and 

 the quills, except those that form part of the white patch, mar- 

 gined on the outer webs with dull rufous ; the chin, throat, 

 breast, and upper abdomen mottled dusky, and pale fulvous ; 

 sides and flanks dusky ; lower abdomen, vent and lower tail 

 coverts, greyish white. 



Davison remarks : — u The Dyal bird is abundant all about Port 

 Blair, it is found in all sorts of places, about houses, in man- 



