BIRDS OF UPPER PEGU. 95 



" A male had the iris hazel brown ; eyelids, grey ; bill, black ; 

 feet and claws, black. A female had the iris lake red, and the 

 eyelids greyish white " 



Captain Feilden also noted that in some of his specimens the 

 irides were brown. I do not think that it is always the 

 case that there is a difference in color in the irides of the two 

 sexes, as there undoubtedly is in those of P hcenicophaus pyrrJio- 

 cep/ialus, and curvirostris, and perhaps others of that same group; 

 I am inclined to believe that in this species the difference is due, 

 as in Elatws melanopterus, to differences in age. 



271 ter— PericrOCOtuselegans, Mcdlell andSorsf., 

 (Proceedings, Zoological Society, 1839, p. 156). 



As already noticed, when treating of the Andaman Minivet 

 (Stray Feathers, 1874, p. 208), I believe that both the Assam 

 and the Pegu birds should be referred to elegans. 



Mr. Oates remarks : " I think this bird requires to be sepa- 

 rated from the Indian speciosus, the inner webs only of the 

 central tail feathers being black.'" 



This distinction is possibly not absolutely constant in Burmese 

 and Assamese specimens, but I cannot understand how elegans can 

 ever have been confounded with either speciosus or Jlammeus . First, 

 as to Jlammeus, no doubt it is of much the same size, and also that 

 the color of elegans is, to a certain extent, intermediate between 

 that of speciosus a,n& Jlammeus ; but then the red extends in elegans 

 (as in speciosus) on to the third, whilst in Jlammeus it only extends 

 on to the fifth primary. As regards speciosus, elegans is only 

 about half the bulk. I do not lay very great stress upon the outer 

 web of the central tail feather being entirely red in elegans, because 

 I have specimens, both from the Central Provinces and Sikhim, 

 of the true speciosus in which the outer webs of these central 

 feathers are partly or wholly red. The points I would insist on 

 are, as regards Jlammeus, the difference of the amount of red on 

 the wing, and as regards speciosus, the great difference in size. 

 As regards the females, the same kind of differences exist, and 

 moreover the female of elegans has, like that of speciosus, a great 

 deal more yellow on the front of the head than that of Jlam- 

 meus. 



Mr. Oates remarks : " This species is common everywhere, 

 very often alone, at times in flocks of five or six. The males are, 

 perhaps, a little larger than the females as a rule, but the differ- 

 ences are scarcely perceptible. 



" The following is a resume of the dimensions of numerous 

 specimens : — 



"Length, 7*6 to 8*1; expanse, 11 to 11-7 j tail, from vent, 

 3-3 to 3-9; wing, 3*6 to 3*8; bill, from gape, 0-9 to 0-98; 



