276 FIRST LIST OF THE BIRDS OF 



of tail, 13-0; central tail feathers exceed others, 10*16; 

 weight, 0*75 oz. Bill and orbits cobalt blue ; legs lavender 

 blue ; mouth, inside greenish. One of the central tail feathers 

 is 1*54 longer than the other, and both are black shafted for 

 their whole length ; the basal halves of both have the webs 

 white, while those of the terminal halves are chestnut ; the second 

 tail feather on the left hand side is pure white, narrowly margin- 

 ed with black on the outside of the exterior web to near the tip, 

 and there is not even a tinge of ashy on any of the feathers of the 

 breast or abdomen which are pure white ; rest of body chest- 

 nut. 



\2th June, fVliite-plumaged Male — Length, 19*50 ; expanse, 

 11*20; wing, 3*83; tail from vent, 15*25; tarsus, 0*75; bill 

 from gape, 1*16; bill at front, 0*70; closed wings ,fall short 

 of end of tail, 13"50; central tail feathers exceed others, 

 10*33; weight, 0*75 oz. Irides dark brown ; eyelids and bill 

 cobalt blue ; mouth, inside greenish yellow ; legs lavender blue ; 

 central tail feathers black shafted for 0*42 from tip, then white 

 for 5*08, rest black. 



Rather rare, except during April and May, when they become 

 common ; the long-tailed birds, however, are seen in numbers 

 only for the latter half of April, after which a stray one is 

 occasionally met with. The short-tailed chestnut birds I have 

 seen all the year round, but they are far from common. I 

 shot a white-plumaged bird in company with a small chestnut 

 one (which I failed to get), and on dissection the testes were 

 found to be very enlarged, so that it is not at all improbable 

 that some pairs do breed in the district. The natives say they 

 do, but their assertions must be taken cum grano ; they call 

 them tl Doodhraj" (king of milk) ; when a bird has once been 

 observed it must not be lost sight of even for a couple of seconds, 

 or it is off, for they are perpetually on the move. I have seen a 

 small chestnut one hopping about a fence within a foot of the 

 ground ; these birds keep to bamboo and tree jungle. 



291.— Leucocerca albicollis, Vieill. 



I3tk April 1878, Male. — Length, 7*50 ; expanse, 9*0 ; wing, 

 3*0 ; tail from vent, 4*12 ; tarsus, 0*68 ; bill from gape, 0*61 ; 

 bill at front, 0*43 ; closed wings fall short of end of tail, 

 2*58 ; weight, 0*37 oz. Irides dark brown ; bill and legs black ; 

 the central tail feathers distinctly barred darker. 



A few pairs always seen in the Mangoe topes, in which they 

 delight to remain : is a permanent resident ; has a sharp twitter- 

 ing note, very like that of 31. paradisi, for which I have often 

 mistaken it ; is continually snapping its beak and going from 

 branch to branch with a short jerky tumbling flight, I took one 



