PACHYGLOSSA VINCENS. 



(LEGGE'S FLOWERPECKER.) 

 (Peculiar to Ceylon.) 



Prionochilus vincens, Sclater, P. Z. S. 1S72, p. 729; Holdsw. t.c. p. 483 ; Legge, J. A. S. 

 (Ceylon Branch) 1873, p. 13; Sclater, Ibis, 1874, p. 2, pi. 1; Legge, t.c. p. 23; 

 Holdsw. t. c. p. 126 ; Hume, Str. Feath. 1875, p. 493 (redescription). 



d ad._ supra plumbeus indigotieo nitens, uropygio clarius plumbescenti-cinereo : tectricibus alarum secundariisque 

 mgns, dorsi colore marginatis : remigibus rectricibusque nigris, his (duabus mediis exceptis) albo terminaliter 

 maculatis, exterms latius : facie laterali tota et colli lateribus pileo concoloribus : gula et prspectore albis : cor- 

 pore reliquo subtus flavo, hypochondriis vix olivaceo lavatis : tibiis et subcaudalibus albis, flavo lavatis : subalaribus 

 albis : remigibus infra nigris, intiis albo marginatis. 



$ ad. rnari similis, sed pallidior et supra minus nitens : dorso olivaceo lavato : tectricibus alarum quoque nicri- 

 cantibus, olivaceo vix marginatis. 



Adult male. Length 4-1 to 4-2 inches ; wing 2-3 to 2-4 ; tail 1-2 ; tarsus 0-5 ; middle toe and claw 0-52 ; bill to gape 0-45. 



Iris reddish ; bill black, lower mandible pale at the base : le'gs and feet blackish brown. 



Head, hind neck, back, rump, and lesser wing-coverts dull steel-blue, palest on the rump, and with the concealed 

 portion of the feathers dark ; wings and tail blackish, the coverts and tertials edged with the hue of the back, the 

 secondaries edged faintly towards the tips with bluish green ; terminal portion of the three outer tail-feathers 

 white, tip of the next pair the same ; throat and chest white, changing into saffron-yellow on the breast and 

 lower parts, and paling to yellowish on the under tail-coverts ; under wing-coverts and basal portion of the inner 

 webs of the quills white. In specimens in abraded plumage the rump assumes a whitish aspect. 



Female. Length 3-9 to 4-1 inches ; wing 2-15 to 2 - 3 : bill somewhat lighter than that of the male : iris not so intense : 



legs and feet slightly paler. 

 Head and hind neck bluish ashen, changing into the olivaceous brown of the back, which is overcome with dark 



olivaceous green on the lower back and rump ; wings paler than in the male, coverts edged with olivaceous ; tail 



brownish black, the terminal spots less deep and confined to the three outer pairs of rectrices ; breast much less 



bright than in the male, with the flanks cinereous. 



Young. Males of the year are very similar to adults ; the breast not so yellow, Iris brown or red-brown. Females 

 have the iris in nestling plumage olive-brown, changing when older to reddish brown ; bill with the base of 

 lower mandible yellowish fleshy. Above dull greenish brown, changing to dull brown on the sides of the neck 

 and face, the white of the chin and throat confined to the centre ; sides of chest cinereous, under surface washed 

 with yellow. 



Obs. This species was classed by Dr. Sclater as a Prionochilus, a genus of Strickland's, instituted for the reception, as 

 this gentleman tells us (' Ibis,' 1874, p. 1 ), of the birds described and figured in the ' Planches Colorie'es ' of Temminck 

 as Pardalotus percussus, P. tJioracicus, and another Malayan species, P. maeidatus. This group is characterized by 

 minute serrations on the upper mandible, and hence the name — wpiwv, a saw, and xelAos, a Hp. They have likewise, 

 as Mr. Wallace states in his note on the genus (' Ibis,' 1874, p. 411) and also writes me recently, a minute 1st 

 primary. On again examining the Ceylonese bird and carefully comparing it with a closely allied congener from 

 Nepal, Pachyglossa melanoxantha (Jerdon, B. of Lid. i. p. 378), I find that these serrations are not present in 

 either, and in addition to this they possess but nine primaries, which at once precludes their being placed with 

 the Prionochili. This latter genus, according to the system of classification followed in this work, would be located 

 in the Sturnoid Passeres, while Pachyglossa, to which the Ceylonese form belongs (it being a congener of the Nepal 

 species), must be placed among the DicasidaS in the Tanagroid or nine-primary section of the Passeres. I have 

 lately sent my specimens to Mr. Wallace for examination, in order to obtain the benefit of his valuable opinion ; 

 and he writes me that my bird being a decided Pachyglossa, this genus will now consist of three species— 

 P. aureolimbata (a beautiful species described by himself from Northern Celebes), P. melanoxantha from Nepal, 

 and P. vincens from Ceylon. 



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