XANTHOLjEMA H.EMACEPHALA. 



(THE CRIMSON-BREASTED BARBET.) 



Bucco hcemacephalus, Mull. Syst. Nat. Suppl. p. 88 (177G). 



Bucco flavigula, Bodd. Tabl. PI. Enl. p. 30 (1783). 



Bucco philippensis, Gm. Syst. Nat. i. p. 407 (1788). 



Bucco indicus, Lath. Ind. Ora. i. p. 205 (1790). 



Capito philippensis, Vieill. N. Diet. d'Hist. Nat. iv. p. 498 (1816). 



Megalaima philippensis, G. K. Gray, Gen. B. ii. p. 429 (1846); Blyth, Cat. B. Mus. A. S. B. 



p. 68 (1849) ; Kelaart, Prodromus, Cat. p. 127 (1852) ; Layard, Ann. & Mag. Nat. Hist. 



1854, xiii. p. 447. 

 Xantholmma indica, Horsf. & Moore, Cat. B. Mus. E. I. Co. ii. p. 644 (1856) ; Jerdon, B. of 



Ind. i. p. 315 (1862); Holdsvvorth, P. Z. S. 1872, p. 430; Legge, Ibis, 1875, p. 284. 

 Megalaima hcemacephala, G. R. Gray, Cat. B. Brit. Mas. Capit. p. 10 (1868). 

 Xantkolcema hcemacephala, Marshall, Mon. Capit. pi. 42 (1871) ; Hume, Nests and Eggs 



(Bough Draft), p. 131 (1873); id. Str. Feath. 1873, p. 453; Ball, ibid. 1874, p. 466; 



Hume, ibid. 1875, p. 77; Armstrong, ibid. 1876, p. 311. 

 I,i Barbut des Philippines, Brisson ; Le Cabezon a gorge jaune, Vieill. ; The Crimson-gorgeted 



Barbet, Marshall; Copper-smith, Europeans in Ceylon; Kat-Jchora, Hind., or Tambayat, 



lit. "Copper-smith"; CJwta bassant bairi, or Chota Benebo, Beng. ; Tokoji, Telegu. 

 Kotormva, Mal-kotoruwa, Sinhalese ; Kokoorupan, Tamil (Layard). 



Adult mil!, and female. Length 6'0 to iM inches; wing 3 - 0to3 - 15; tail 1*5 ; tarsus 0*8; outer anterior toe and 

 •■law 0-7.-, ; bill to gape 0-9 to 0-97. 



\r\> reddish brown, with a pale or pearly-grey outer circle ; eyelid red ; bill black ; legs and feet coral-red. 



A broad frontal band and a patch across the lower part of throat glistening crimson ; lores, the top and sides of head 

 behind the eye, ear-coverts, and cheeks black ; chin, throat, a stripe above the eye, and a patch on the cheek 

 sulphur-yellow; hind neck, back, and wings sap-green, slightly pervaded with bluish on the occiput; tail and 

 ■ niter webs of quills bluish green; outer primaries and inner webs of all the quills blackish brown, margined 

 inwardly with whitish yellow ; below the chest-patch green, washed next the crimson with yellow; breast and 

 lower parts whitish, with broad dark green centres to the feathers, darkest on the flanks, and fading on the centre 

 "I the belly : bases of wing-coverts blackish, under wing yellowish. 



Th. extent of black on the occiput varies, and specimens are likewise often seen with the back and wing-coverts edged 

 yellowish green. 



Young. Tris dark brown ; legs and feet yellowish red. In the fully-plumaged nestling the crimson forehead and 

 chest are wanting, the former being concolorous with the crown, which is dusky green; the yellow throat- and 

 facial-spots are not so bright as in the adult ; the lower part of the face and space just behind the eye only are 

 blackish : the upper surface is pale-edged, and that part of the chest which is crimson in the adult is dull green : 

 under surface much as in the adult, but the centres of the feathers are paler. Traces of the black crown are 

 perceptible in the blackish bases of the feathers there. 



Obs. Ceylonese specimens are identical with Indian in character of marking &c, but the latter may perhaps average 

 somewhat larger. An indii idua] from Kamptee has the wing 3-2 inches, another from " North India" 3-25. In 

 some specimens the pale portions of the breast-feathers are strongly tinged with yellowish. Birds from the 

 Burmese countries, says Mr. Hume, are not different from Indian ; and an example from Acheen (Sumatra) is 

 indistinguishable, as regards colour, from Indian examples, although somewhat smaller and shorter in the bill. 



Distribution. — The little " Copper-smith " is diffused throughout all the dry region of Ceylon, commencing 



