MALAYAN CRESTED FIREBACK 127 



A male at this stage shows little or no signs of moult on the head and neck, the 

 juvenile feathers being dull blackish-brown, with very faint rufous tips. The lower 

 hind neck is paler brown, with here and there a very slight metallic glint. The mantle, 

 back and coverts are rufous with obscure dark brown mottlings. On these areas there 

 is a thin scattering of new jet-black feathers with a shining blue-green border. The 

 longer juvenile wing-coverts are dark rufous-brown, with the rufous mottlings confined 

 to the terminal border. The flight-feathers are all dull brown, unmarked. 



The juvenile rectrices are narrow and curved, dark rufous with almost obsolete 

 mottling of darker colour. In the specimen which we are describing there are fourteen, 

 being moulted from without, inwards. The outer four are new, growing, dark feathers, 

 becoming successively shorter as we proceed inward, until the fourth from the outer is 

 very short. The next inner pair is wholly absent, apparently just shed, while the two 

 central pairs are brown, narrow juvenile feathers, projecting well beyond the others. Now 

 it is just these three inner pairs which will show the white in the adult plumage, so here 

 (and in all the other moulting individuals examined) we have a very marked delay in 

 the appearance of the central pairs, just as in Ithaginis we had a delay in the outer pairs. 



The facial area is very sparsely covered with minute, brush-like feathers. Chin 

 and throat white ; ear-coverts, sides and lower neck like the upper. The ventral surface 

 shows no signs of moult as yet. The feathers are dark brown, with a narrow white 

 lateral fringe on the breast, increasing on the sides of the body, and especially on the 

 belly, where superficially it eclipses the darker central portion. The moult of the 

 primaries is proceeding regularly outward, all but the external five pairs having been 

 shed. The spurs are sharp, but very minute. The bird measures, bill from nostril, 18 ; 

 wing, 215 ; tail (juvenile), 122 ; tarsus, 74 ; middle toe and claw, 38. 



Immature Male, Completing First Annual Moult. — A bird at this stage 

 has more tiny, brushy featherlets on the facial area than the fully adults. In a typical 

 individual the crest has begun to sprout, being about one-half grown. The dorsal 

 plumage shows only about half the full amount of terminal iridescence, while the fire 

 of the back is broken by black mottling, and an infusion of dull chestnut at the basal 

 border. The longest tail-coverts are still unshed juvenile, being dark brown with 

 mottled rufous tips instead of shining purplish-green. 



The tail-feathers have been renewed and are full grown. The two central ones 

 have a conspicuous black shaft-stripe for the basal three-quarters of the feather, while 

 the basal fourth is wholly brown. The next pair is similar, except that black mottling 

 covers the basal third of the outer web. The third pair has the white inner web clouded 

 with dark, and a patch of chestnut at the tip of the outer web. The next has a patch 

 of white and chestnut at the tip of the inner web, while the fifth shows only a tinge 

 of chestnut in the same place. The two outer pairs are normal black. 



The under-parts are almost wholly dead black. On the sides are a few purplish- 

 blue tipped feathers, with a narrow shaft-streak of bright chestnut, terminating in a 

 patch of mottling of the same colour. The outer two primaries are growing ; all others 

 have been renewed. This bird measures, bill from nostril, 23 ; wing, 253 ; tail, 195 ; 

 tarsus, 106; middle toe and claw, 61. The spurs are sharp, stout and short and 

 measure 10 mm. in length. 



