

mere volcanic cone in the middle of the sea, they came across several little parties of this bird, 

 and on the neighbouring small wooded island of Narcondam likewise procured a pair ; and as 

 they collected a large series from the other islands, the notes given by Mr. Hume (Str. F. 1873, 

 p. 404) deserve to be quoted at considerable length. "We obtained," he observes, " this species 

 in every part of the Andaman group. We have specimens from every station about Port Blair, 

 from the Jolly Boys, Macpherson's Strait, from Stewart Sound between N. and M. Andaman, 

 from Little Button in the Archipelago, from Narcondam, from both the great and Little Cocos, 

 and from Preparis. We never once obtained it in any portion of the Nicobar group, every island 

 of which we visited, and throughout which A. pectoralis, Horsf., abounds. The following are 

 the dimensions, taken in the flesh : — 



"Male. Length 4 - 5 to 5 inches, expanse 6-5 to 7 - 0, wing 2T to 2'15, tail from vent 1*4 to 

 L75, tarsus 0'5 to 0-62, bill from gape 097, bill at front 0'75 to 0-8, wings when closed reach to 

 within 0-G2 of end of tail. 



" Female. Length 4-4 to 4*7, expanse 6'25 to 6*5, wing 1*82 to 2-02, tail from vent 1-22 to 

 1*4, tarsus 055, bill from gape 097, bill at front 075 to 0*8, wings when closed reach to within 

 0-62 of end of tail." 



He then gives a full description of the plumage, and observes that the bill, legs, and feet 

 are black and the irides dark brown, and that the upper parts of the plumage are tinged or 

 suffused with olive. " The amount of this tinging varies very much in various specimens : in 

 some there is only a trace of this ; in others it almost entirely hides the brown. In fact the 

 difference is as great as between the summer and winter plumage in some of the Phylloscopi ; in 

 some specimens there is more green on the rump ; in others the tinge is decidedly brightest on 

 the head and interscapular regions. Some birds almost entirely want this tinge ; and these have 

 absolutely no trace of a supercilium ; others, again, in which the green tinge is more marked 

 (killed, as a rule, towards the middle or latter half of April, and which are about to doff the 

 breeding-garb), show a pale yellowish white supercilium, more or less distinctly. It is the birds 

 killed from December to March (during which period they breed) that are brownest above, and 

 are characterized by the absence of the supercilium. 



" Towards the middle of April the males doff the breeding-plumage ; the upper surface 

 becomes somewhat greener, and the rump slightly brighter-coloured; the superciliary stripe, 

 though still very small, becomes more distinct and pale yellow ; the chin, throat, and breast become 

 a clear pale yellow, with only a moderately broad central stripe of steely-blue feathers; the 

 brown pectoral band disappears. The female closely resembles the male, is browner when he is 

 browner, greener when he is greener, and shows more or less supercilium at the same time as he 

 does — but always, I think, shows rather more ; she differs in having the chin, throat, and upper 

 breast always pale yellow or yellowish white, and in never exhibiting any trace of the brown 

 pectoral band. The descriptions are founded on sixteen specimens of males and ten of females, 

 killed in different parts of the Andaman group, between December and the end of April. The 

 species is very common in the Andamans ; and had we not had so many other birds to attend to, 

 we might have secured any number of specimens." 



Messrs. Hume and Davison further inform me by letter: — "Of the nidification of the 

 Andaman Honey-Sucker, Captain Wiraberly writes, ' I send the nest and two eggs of A. anda- 



