THE ISLANDS OF THE BAY OF BENGAL. 255 



races, I am constrained to unite them all under Osbeck's name, 

 which is, I believe, the oldest. Ptilogenys and religiosa are of 

 course clearly distinct, having differences in the feathering of 

 the head, which prevents their ever being confounded. 



On this subject, however, I think it only right to introduce 

 here a note which my late friend Colonel Tytler gave me. 



He says, writing of the Andaman bird : — " This species is very 

 numerous in all the high forests of the Andamans, where their 

 call is certain of attracting the notice and attention of the most 

 unobservant. I have seen as many as twenty together, each 

 one, if possible, calling louder than its neighbour. Although they 

 confine themselves to the highest branches of lofty trees still 

 on their being disturbed they are so inquisitive that several 

 fly down to the lower branches, and with their heads placed on 

 one side, closely observe all that the intruder does. Their prin- 

 cipal food consists of wild fruits, young leaves, caterpillars, &c, 

 and nectar in flowers. I have had several in captivity, and they 

 live remarkably well, for they are strong, very hardy and 

 exquisite imitators of sound, repeating words almost as clearly 

 as the human voice can do. 



The Andaman bird differs from Eulabes javanensis in having 

 the bill more slender, and the ear lappets not so long, and 

 in being a rather smaller bird, otherwise it bears a strong 

 resemblance to it ; it differs from E. intermedia, which latter 

 equals it in size and is similar in colour, in having a much 

 longer and slenderer bill, and considerably longer ear lap- 

 pets. Again, the Andaman Eulabes differs from E. religiosa 

 of Southern India, in being considerably larger than the latter 

 though it bears a strong resemblance to it, particularly in the 

 lengthened appearance of the bill ; in fact E. religiosa is in 

 appearance a miniature of E. andamanensis, except in the wattles 

 which are proportionally longer and looser in religiosa, and are 

 divided at the base by a black stripe beginning over the eye. 

 This extraordinary resemblance is not confined to form and 

 color, but also exists in its tone of voice and call. All the 

 above species I of Eulabes are perfectly distinct and well 

 distinguished from the Ceylon E. ptilogenys which has the base 

 of its mandibles bluish, and wants the nude skin under the 

 eyes which is so strongly marked in all the other species. 

 The ear lappets also of the Ceylon bird are less defined, and 

 then in size the bird itself equals E. intermedia of India, and is 

 larger than E. religiosa of Southern India/' 



To this I must add that so far as the ear lappets go, I have 

 specimens from the Andamans with lappets as ong as those of 



