]48 A FIRST LIST OF THE 



and I have no idea when it does breed. Birds that I measured 

 have varied as follows : — 



" Length, 12 to 12 - 1 ; expanse, 12*5 to 12*7 ; tail, from vent, 7 

 to 7*8; wing, 4" 08 to 4 - 2; bill, from gape, 0*78 to 0*9; tarsus, 

 1-0 to 1-1. 



" In the old birds the irides are blue ; the eyelids, leaden ; the 

 whole bill, black ; the legs and claws, dark brown ; the inside of 

 the mouth, flesh color. In what Mr. Hume says are the young 

 birds, the basal portion of the bill is orange, and so are the 

 edges of the eyelids and the inside of the mouth/-' 



This species was first described by Dr. Jerdon, Ibis, 1862, p. 20. 



The whole of the chin, throat, cheeks, ear coverts, lores, fore- 

 head, crown, and occiput, black ; the extreme tip of the chin, 

 a spot at the base of the lower mandible, the lores, a narrow 

 spot under the anterior half of the eye, and a narrow frontal 

 band, velvet black ; the rest with a dull green metallic lustre ; 

 a dull white line, narrow across the throat and widening some- 

 what on the nape, sharply defines the black of the head. The 

 breast, abdomen, vent, flanks and lower tail coverts, the back, 

 scapulars, upper tail coverts, lateral tail feathers, tertiaries, and 

 all but the greater primary coverts, a pale delicate brownish or 

 dove grey ; central tail feathers, winglet, primaries, their greater 

 coverts and secondaries, dull black ; the central tail feathers paling 

 somewhat towards their bases, especially on their outer webs. 

 The secondaries, paler, more or less broadly margined with white 

 or greyish white on their outer webs and tips, and paling on the 

 inner webs towards their margins ; wing lining and axillaries, 

 silky, very slightly greyish or brownish white ; the central tail 

 feathers, somewhat abruptly widened out on both webs towards 

 the tips : three inches from the tips they are only about 0*5 wide, 

 while half an inch from the tips, where they are widest, they are 

 1*3 wide. They widen out more gradually on the inner, and much 

 more suddenly on the outer, web. The tail feathers, ten in number, 

 are very much graduated, all but the central pair normally shaped. 

 The pair next the central ones are 1*4 ; the next pair, 2*5 ; the next 

 pair, 3" 5; and the exterior tail feathers, 4*7, or thereabouts, 

 shorter than the central ones. 



The fourth, fifth, and sixth primaries are equal and longest ; 

 the third and seventh, about equal ; the second, about 0'75 ; and 

 the first, about 1*75 shorter than the longest. 



The interior margins of the quills albescent towards their 

 bases on the lower surface of the wings. 



In the young birds there is no hood ; the lores, ear coverts, and 

 chin are blackish brown, and the . top of the head is darker 

 brown. Then there is no white line round the neck ; the grey of 

 the plumage is duller and dingier ; and quills and central tail 

 feathers, altogether duller-colored. 



