76 The Andamans and Nicobars. — V. Ball. 



Captain Beavan's description is as follows : — " Head, neck, 

 throat, aud abdomen pure white ; back and upper tail-coverts 

 pure ashy-grey ; under tail-coverts white, with a very faint ting-e 

 of rufous ; wings and middle tail-feathers dark glossy black 

 with green reflections ; the outer tail-feathers tipped with 

 creamy yellowish- white, most broadly so on the outermost pair, 

 and decreasing towards the middle; irides pale-yellow; the legs 

 also yellow. The female dilFers from the male in having 

 scarcely any green reflections on the wings, and the young is 

 yet more dully coloured than the female. The species is very 

 abundant on Ross Island, frequenting* gardens and buildings in 

 the neighbourhood of houses. It is very fond of ripe fruit, 

 especially plantains." 



Mr. Blyth wrote as follows of this bird, T. erythropygia, BlyfJi : — 

 " Two more specimens from Port Blair, but still wanting the deep 

 ferruginous colouring on the rump and upper tail-coverts ; however, 

 it is faintly indicated, and that intense colouring is probably 

 peculiar to old males. There can be no doubt about the correct- 

 ness of the identification." — /. A. S. B., 1860, p. 6. 



Again oi T. erythropyffi us, nobis; " I have seen no Andaman 

 example yet with distmctly rufeseent upper tail-coverts." Colonel 

 Tytler, according to Captain Beavan, says that " the old males 

 never do get the rufeseent upper tail-coverts of the true T. 

 erylliropygiusj" 



In the specimens which I recently examined and compared 

 with the Nicobar birds, there was a total absence of distinct 

 rufescence on the rump, upper tail-coverts, under tail-coverts, and 

 tail-feathers, such as is so well marked on all the Nicobar speci- 

 mens. 



Measurement in inches of a male in Dr. Dobson^s collection 

 in the Indian Museum : — Wing 4-3 ; tail '6'1; bill at front l-l ; 

 tarse 1. Ditto of a fresh specimen, Blyth : — Length 1\ ; 

 wing 4| ; tail 3 ; bill to gape \\. 



85— (6S8 if^r).— Temenuchus (Sturnia) erythro- 

 pygia, Blyth. 



Nicohars.— Blyth, J. A. S. B., XV, 1864, pp. 34 and 369. 

 The following is Mr. Blyth's original description of this 

 bird : — " This beautiful species would seem to be nearly allied to 

 the Javanese St. tricolor, (Horsf.), v. melanoptera, (Wagler). 

 Head, neck, and lower parts pure silky white ; the wings wholly 

 shining black ; the scapularies and interscapularies pale satiny- 

 brown; the rump, vent, upper and lower tail-coverts deep 

 ferruginous ; and the tail black, with more than half of its 

 outermost feather ferruginous, and the rest successively less 

 deeply tipped with ferruginous to the middle part ; bill yellow, 

 with the base of the lower mandible livid blue; and legs 



