SIPHIA RUBECULOIDES. 



(THE BLUE-THROATED REDBREAST.) 



Phcenicura rubeculoides, Vigors, P. Z. S. 1831, p. 35; Gould, Cent. Him. Birds, pi. 25. fig. 1 



(1832). 

 Muscicapa rubecula, Swains. Monogr. Flyc. p. 221, pi. 27. 

 Cyomis rubeculoides, Blyth, J. A. S. B. 1843, xii. p. 941 ; id. Cat. B. Mus. A. S. B. p. 173 



(1849); Layard, Ann. & Mag. Nat. Hist. 1854, xiii. p. 125; Horsf. & Moore, Cat. B. 



Mus. E. I. Co. ii. p. 289 (1854) ; Jerdon, B. of Ind. i. p. 466 (1862); Holdsw. P. Z. S. 



1872, p. 442 ; Hume, Nests and Eggs, 1873, p. 211 ; id. Str. Feath. 1875, p. 104 ; Brooks. 



t. c. p. 235 ; Hume, Str. Feath. 1878, p. 227. 

 Niltava rubeculoides, Gray, Gen. B. i. p. 264. 

 Siphia rubeculoides, Sharpe, Cat. B. iv. p. 445 (1879). 

 Chatki, Beng. ; Manzhil-pho, Lepchas (Jerdon). 



i male. Length 5*6 to 5 - 8 inches ; wing 2-7 to 2-8 : tail 2-0 to 2-2 : tarsus - 7 ; mid toe and claw 0-6 ; bill to 

 gape 0-7. 



Fern (il\ Length 5"3 to 5'5 inches ; wing 2'7 to 2 - 8. 



Male. Iris deep brown ; bill black ; legs and feet dusky bluish, claws dusky. 



Head, hind neck, back, and wing-coverts dark shining blue; forehead and point of wing glistening cserulean blue, 

 extending more above the eyes than in the last species ; inner webs of the quills and tail-feathers blackish brown, 

 the outer webs margined with blue, much brighter on the tail than the wing ; upper tail-coverts brighter blue 

 than the back ; the lores, ear-coverts, and the. extreme point of the chin black ; throat and sides of chest deep 

 obscure indigo-blue, descending further down to the chest in some specimens than in others ; chest and upper 

 part of the breast rich rufous, fading into white on the lower breast, abdomen, lower flanks, and under tail-coverts ; 

 under wing-coverts white. 



The coloration of the throat is variable ; in the majority of specimens from Ceylon the dark blue colour ends in a line 

 across the lower part of the throat; but in some it extends considerably upon the sides of the chest, confining 

 the rufous of the chest to a smaller space, while in others the rufous runs up in a point towards the chin, dividing 

 the blue of the throat. This exists in an example in my collection, and Mr. Holdsworth noticed it in specimens 

 from Ceylon in the late Lord Tweeddale's collection. 



It . Bill dark brown ; legs and feet greyish blue. 

 I uniform brownish olive, with the margins of the quills pale, and the upper tail-coverts and tail suffused with 



rusty brown ; lores pale ; orbital fringe rufescent ; ear-coverts with pale stria; : throat and chest dull rufous, paling 

 on the flanks ; the breast, abdomen, and under tail-coverts pure white ; wing-lining yellowish buff. 



Yowng male. Iris light brown ; bill blackish, pale at the base ; legs and feet bluish. 



Above bluish, with fulvous tips to the feathers of the head and neck, and terminal spots of the same on the wing-coverts ; 

 chin, throat, and breast rufescent buff, darkest on the chest, and changing into white on the lower parts. The 

 above is the plumage in which I shot a Flycatcher changing from nest-plumage to the blue dress, in January 1875, 

 in the forests near Kanthelai tank. There is an indication of a dark line across the throat, just where the lower 

 border of the blue would be in the adult. It was in company with what appeared to be, as well as I could gather 

 at a momentary glance in the thick jungle, an adult C. rubeculoides ; and near at hand I obtained a glimpse of 

 what I took for a brown Cyomis, which would be the colour of the female parent, provided my identification were 

 correct. 



Obs. I observe, on examining a continental series of this bird, the same variation in the marking of the throat 



