146 A FIRST LIST OF THE 



the Bhootan Dhooars westwards to where the Jumna debouches 

 from the hills ; westward of this I have not observed it. Al- 

 though it cannot be exhibited by measurements, I think that the 

 bills, both of Thayetmyo specimens and others from the Arracan 

 Hills, do average slightly larger than those from the Sub- 

 Himalayan tracts and Eastern Bengal. 



Mr. Oates says : " Common in the Pegu Hills, and also on 

 those of Arracan, but not found in the plains. I found the nest, 

 and shot the female off it on 19th April. The nest and eggs 

 have been described in Nests and Eggs, Pt. II. 



"A male measured: Length, 15*3; expanse, 18*3; tail, from 

 vent, 7*8; wing, 5*9; bill, from gape, 1*7; tarsus, 1*7. 



"Female: Length, 14*9; expanse, 17*75 ; tail, from vent, 7 "8 - 

 wing, 6; bill, from gape, T58 • tarsus, 1*8. 



•• Bill, legs, feet, and edges of eyelids, eoral red ■ rest of eyelids, 

 yellowish brown ; irides, blood red ; claws, pale red ; inside of 

 mouth, reddish fleshy .*' 



674.— Dendrocitta rufa, Scop, 



The Thayetmyo specimens sent belong to the somewhat larger- 

 billed and darker race of tins species. Southern Indian birds 

 seem generally rather smaller, paler, and conspicuously smaller- 

 billed. Captain Feilden notices that the irides are dark brown. 

 Mr. Oates says that the species is common about Thayetmyo, 

 and he gives the colors of the soft parts as follows : — 



" Bill, black, purpurescent towards the base, and flesh-colored 

 at the gape ; inside of mouth, reddish fleshy ; eyelids, grey ; iris, 

 pinkish hazel ; legs and feet, black ; claws, horny ." 



678 bis,— Crypsirina varians, Lath. 



In writing of C. cuculata Mr. Oates remarks : " I once had a 

 shot at a bird with a similarly shaped tail, and much the same 

 size. It appeared to be jet black all over; unfortunately I 

 missed it : what could it have been ? " I have no doubt that 

 this was Crypsirina varians, Latham, of which I have fine speci- 

 mens from the neighbourhood of Rangoon and again from various 

 localities in Northern Tenasserim. When I say varians, I mean 

 a bird exactly of that type. I have no Javan specimens to com- 

 pare it with, and the Burmese bird may prove to differ in some 

 minor particulars sufficiently to warrant its specific separation. 



Looking to what Mr. Oates says, and to its having been ob- 

 tained by Colonel Phayre in Tonghoo, we shall have to add Cryp- 

 sirina varians to our list of Upper Pegu birds. 



The following are dimensions recorded in the flesh, and descrip- 

 tion taken from birds procured in Tenasserim : — 



Length, 12*8 to 13'5; expanse, 13*75 to 15; wing, 4-37 to 

 475; tail, from vent, 7*5 to 8'25 ; feathers next the central tail 



