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Dr. A. G. Butler,



search for differences which might be relied upon. In my book

“ How to sex Cage-Birds,” p. 15, I pointed out one colour-character

which appeared to me to be constant, and so far I have seen no

reason to change my opinion on that point as regards the Himalayan

form ; there are, however, other characters which ought to be, and

probably are, distinctive and reliable, and one of these has enabled a

Sydenham dealer recently to pick out cock birds for his customers

without, apparently, a single failure ; it is a character noted, but not

emphasized, in Russ’ description of the male bird ; namely, the

more yellow tint of the crown.


My friend Mr. Allen Silver kindly procured one of these birds

in rough plumage for me : it was not only yellowish-green on the

crown but the front of the crown was blotched with yellow feathers

more or less abraded. When it had moulted, its inferior size and

different coloration seemed to me to indicate at least a well-defined

race, if not a distinct species from L. lutea : — the crown was some¬

what ashy in front, and where the yellowish patches existed in the

freshly-imported bird, there appeared after the moult two short

whitish streaks, the orbital ellipse and sides of head were, and are,

distinctly ashy : but more of this anon.


The following sexual differences in L. lutea seem reliable:—

Male, when mature, larger than female and with greater width of

skull ; the bill noticeably shorter when seen in profile, and broader

in the middle ; crown of a more golden olive colour, especially on the

forehead ; elliptical orbital streak pale yellow throughout and brighter

along its upper edge ; throat of a deeper yellow, this colour extending

below the orange belt which crosses the fore-chest, the belt itself

broader than in the female and of a more decided and brighter rusty-

orange hue ; primaries with broader yellow margins ; central upper

tail-coverts more broadly fringed at extremity with white.' 1 '


The colouring of the throat in various females which I have

possessed at various times grades from pale brimstone to lemon

yellow ; the elliptical orbital streak is either ashy throughout or pale


* Russ regarded this character, I think rightly, as the best for distin¬

guishing males from females : it is not wholly absent, as Russ states, from three

female skins in my possession, but much narrower.



