472 Novelties. — Chatura indica. 



India;, and they do not differ in the shghtest as I can see. Dr. 

 Sclater mentions that specimens from Celebes have a well marked 

 narrow white patch on the front on each side of the nostrils, 

 and in this respect the Celebes bird agrees with ours, except 

 that in our birds the patch is a broad and not narrow one ; but 

 in the Celebes birds the whole body above and below is dark 

 brownish black, glossed with purple like the wings. 



The following are correct dimensions recorded in the flesh : 



Males ; length, 9 ; expanse, 19'5 ; wing, 8 ; tail, from vent, 

 3'6 ; tarsus, 0'75 ; bill, from gape, l"!; weight, nearly 5 ozs. 



Females-, length, 8"6 to 8"9 ; expanse, 17"87 to 18'8; wing, 

 7-7 to 7-8 ; tail, from vent, 2-7 to 2-9 ; tarsus, 0-7 to 0-75 ; bill, 

 from gape, 1*05 to 1"1; weight, 3"8 to 4*5 ozs. 



The legs and feet are pale pink, or dull purplish pink, or livid 

 with a blue tinge. The bill is black ; irides, dark brown. 



In the perfect adult, there is, immediately in front of the eye, 

 a velvet-black unglossed spot ; between the spot and the nos- 

 tril is a broad patch of white, duller and slightly tinged brown- 

 ish in younger specimens. The whole chin is white or brown- 

 ish white, below which the middle of the throat is mottled with 

 whity brown, the tips only of the feathers being of the same 

 color as the breast. The forehead, above the white patches, the 

 whole of the rest of the top and back of the head, the sides of 

 the neck and nape, the tail, upper tail coverts, sides (\f the rump 

 and wings, blackish brown, or almost black, highly glossed in 

 adults, the gloss being rather blue than green ; the back and 

 scapulars and the middle of the rump quite a pale brown, much 

 paler than in the Javan specimens. Breast, abdomen, sides of 

 body, axillaries, wing lining, tibial plumes, dull smoky brown, 

 not nearly so pale as on the back. Feathers below the vent, the 

 whole of the lower tail coverts, and a stripe from above the 

 origin of the tibia, running down to the tail coverts and 

 dividing the black of the sides of the rump from the brown of 

 the belly, pure white; some of the longer lower tail coverts dark 

 shafted. 



This species does not appear to extend to the Nicobars, but 

 occurs plentifully about the Andamans from the beginning of 

 January at any rate to the end of April. Whether they remain 

 there all the year round, or whether they are some of the birds 

 that occur in such vast numbers from July to October, in South- 

 ern India, I cannot say. 



This is what Mr. Davison says of the occurrence of this species 

 in the Andamans : 



" Common in some localities at the Andamans. During the 

 day they keep high up in the air far out of shot, in fact so high. 



