PERCHING BIRDS 



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right up into the feathered tract with a sharp cutting-edge. In size this bird is 

 rather larger than a jay ; in colour it is purplish black on the head, throat, and 

 under-parts, chestnut on the back and wings, and black on the tail, except for the 

 black-edged chestnut middle feathers. Belonging to a very different group of 

 perchers, is the genus Philepitta, which is peculiar to the island ; the most brilliantly 

 coloured species being P. jala. In this striking species the male is black with 

 yellow margins to the feathers, while the female is olive-green with a pale yellow 



THE THRUSH-HOLLER 



streak above and below the eye, and pale yellow beneath with greenish stripes 

 on the sides. Allied to the rollers is the remarkable kirombo (Leptosoma discolor), 

 a stoutly built bird with a large head, a sharply ridged beak, and a rather long, 

 square tail. In colour the cock is bronze-green on the head, back, wings, and tail, 

 grey on the sides of the head, throat, and chest, and white on the abdomen ; while 

 the hen has a reddish brown head striped with black, yellowish under-parts with 

 black spots, and the wings speckled reddish brown. Of the approximate size of a 

 crow, this bird associates in small flocks on the skirts of the forest, where it 



