V 



IRENA PUELLA, 



Oed. 11''= Les Passereaux, Cuvier. V? Famille, Les Dentirostres. 

 Ord. II"?" Omnivores, Temminck. 

 Ord. II. Pic^, Linn. Syst. 

 Ord. II. Ambulatores, Illiger. 



IRENA, Nob. 



Char. Gen. Rostrum mediocre, cultratum; maxiUa apice adiinca emarginata. 

 Culmen ai-euatum, elevatum, inter nares carinatum, utrinque a basi ultra 

 medium usque sulco obsoleto exaratum, lateribus subconvexis. Nares basales 

 subrotundffi, vibrissis rigidis plumisque velutinis obtect*. Ales cauda breviores. 

 Remiges: 2 — 6 externe emarginatas, 3 — 6 longiores subeequales ; secunda sequente 

 abrupte brevior, prima subspvuia. Cauda mediocris, truncata. Tarsi digitique 

 breves. Acropodia scutulata. Ungices parvi, fortius curvati, debiles. 



Affinitas. Oriolo, Turdo, Pastori genere affinis, differt tamen convexitate laterali 

 rostri, tegmine velutino narium, brevitate tarsorum et debilitate unguium. 



Irena atra, corpore coUoque supra cervice tectricibusque alarum primis, caudaeque 



superioribus et inferioribus cyaneis, nitore saturate azureo. 

 Sressi, of the Javanese. 

 Siang-leapoor, of the Malays of Sumatra. 

 Coracias puella, hath. Ind. Orn. 171. 

 Fairy Roller, Lath. Syn. Supp. p. 87. 21. 

 Irena puella, Horsf. Syst. Arrangement of Birds from Java, Lifin. Trans. Vol. XIII. 



p. 153. 



This bird is not confined to Java, but is also found in Sumatra and the adjacent 

 Islands. In enumerating it among the birds of Sumatra, Sir Stamford Raffles 

 remarks — " Nothing can surpass the richness of the colours which distinguish the 

 " male of this species ; they far exceed what any painting can convey." The crown 

 of the head, the neck above, the back, lesser wing coverts, and the coverts of the 

 tail, both above and beneath, are of a most resplendent smalt blue, while every other 

 part is of the finest velvet black. 



