540 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY, Vol. XVII. 



From the above notes it will be seen that when bird protection advances a 

 little further in this Province, the period during which the florican will have to 

 be protected will be from the 1st March to the 1st September or 1st October. 



There is no doubt that the florican is polygamous and, courtship only lasting 

 a few days, once the eggs are laid the cock bird takes no more interest in that 

 particular hen, but goes off on the chance of having his addresses received 

 elsewhere. For this reason little harm is done if cock birds are shot up to the 

 end of March, and it would be a most excellent thing if, for some few years to 

 come, cock birds were allowed to be shot from 1st October to 1st April and 

 hen birds protected throughout the year. 



E. C. STUART BAKER. 



Shillong, Assam, 5th July 1906. 



No. XXXIII. -THE PLUMAGE OF THE COCK PURPLE 

 HONEYSUCKER (ARACHNECTERA ASIATICA.) A QUERY ? 



I recently came upon the following passage on page 370 of Vol. I. of Jerdon's 

 Birds of India, anent the cock purple Honeysucker (4 rchnecthra asiatica) :— 

 " After breeding the fine purple garb is doffed, all except a long stripe from the 

 chin to the vent, in which state it is the currucaria of authors, and Col. Sykes was 

 quite right in stating that this was not the livery of the young bird. He, 

 however, unaware of the change of plumage, considered it to be a distinct 

 species. It has the upper parts dull olive-green ; beneath bright yellow ; 

 shoulders and central stripe beneath, brilliant glossy violet ; wings and tail 

 glossy, dusky or black. " 



This passage considerably surprised me, as I have always been under the 

 impression that the cock never loses his purple plumage when once he has 

 assumed it. 



Looking him up in Oates's '• Birds " in the Fauna of British India series, 

 I found no mention of this doffing of the purple livery. On the contrary Oates 

 states that it is the young male which has the broad stripe from the chin to 

 the abdomen. 



Since this coincides with my ideas it would have settled the question for 

 me had I not happened to come across the following passage in Finn's Birds of 

 Calcutta, second edition, page 63 : — " The purple cock apparently thinks his 

 wedding garment too expensive to be worn the whole year round ; for, after 

 the nesting season, he doffs it, retaining only a purple streak from chin to 

 stomach as a mark of his sex. ... I well remember one bird which came to the 

 museum compound after breeding to change his plumage ; he kept very much 

 to two or three trees, singing, apparently, from one particular twig, and even 

 when in undress he kept up his song." 



This seems to be a most circumstantial account of the alleged ohange in 

 plumage ; yet I cannot help thinking that Mr. Finn must have made a mistake. 

 In Madras, where I was last stationed, A. asiatica is by no means common, but 

 A, lotenia is, and I feel pretty certain that this latter species does not 



