172 BIRDS OF TENASSERIM. 



I have now eight from the Malayan Peninsula, and thirty- 

 one from different parts of Tenasserim, Pegu, Eastern Ben- 

 gal, and Assam before me, and I cannot entertain a doubt that 

 from all these localities the species is one and the same. 



First as to the lustre. In perfect adults, whether from the 

 Straits, Burma, Bengal, or Assam, the lustre is bluish, not the 

 bright blue of the upper back of rectungais, but still a decided 

 blue. In some younger birds, there is more or less of a greenish 

 tinge about the feathers of the head and nape, and sometimes all 

 the basal and central portions of the feathers have a decided 

 greenish tinge, but this is equally observable in birds 

 from Assam, Calcutta, Tenasserim, and Singapore. Every Ma- 

 layan specimen can be exactly matched by specimens from 

 different parts of Bengal and Assam. 



And the same may be said as to the colors of the wings 

 aud interscapulary region, which, in some specimens from both 

 localities, may be properly called pale ferruginous, and in others 

 cinnamon. 



As for the white shafts to some of the lesser wing coverts, 

 these are observable in 9-10ths of all apparently full-plumaged 

 birds from Nepal to Johore, only about one in ten apparent 

 adults lose this entirely. 



There remain differences in size, alike in bills and claws, 

 and in other dimensions. Dr. Cabanis had very few specimens, 

 or he would have found great variation in the size of both his 

 larger and smaller supposed species ; and if the Marquis of 

 Tweeddale is correct in identifying Javan and Malay Penin- 

 sula specimens, his birds must have been incorrectly sexed, 

 or he would have discovered that all the large ones were females, 

 and the small ones males. 



The following are dimensions recorded in the flesh of a number 

 of adult males from various localities, from Johore to Suddya : — 



Length, 12-7 to 13; expanse, 15-9 to 17-2; wing, 5-25 to 

 5*5 ; tail, 6 # 75 to 7*7; tarsus, 1*45 to 1*55; bill from gape, 

 1*1 to 1*9 ; hind toe claw inside, 0*7 to 0*95. 



The following are dimensions of adult females : — 



Length, 14*25 to 15; expanse, 18*25 to 18*75; wing, 6*5 to 

 6*8; tail, 8*4 to 8*6; tarsus, 1*6 to 1*7; bill from gape, 1*25; 

 hind toe claw inside, 0*9 to 1*1. 



And the bills of the females are not only longer, but markedly 

 stouter as a body than those of the males. 



Younger birds of both sexes are considerably smaller than the 

 adults. 



It may be that the Javan bird is distinct, but certainly all 

 those that we have seen from the Malayan Peninsula have been 

 identical with those from various parts cf India and Burma 

 The females from both localities answering fairly to Cabanis 



