Genus ZOSTEROPS. 

 Bill somewhat curved, high and wide at the base, compressed towards the tip, which is 

 obsoletely notched and very acute. Nostrils linear; a few rictal bristles. Wings with the 

 3rd quill exceeding the 2nd, which is longer than the 1st. Tail shorter than the wings, even 

 at the tip. Tarsus longer than the middle toe and claw, and shielded with broad smooth scales; 

 outer and middle toes slightly syndactyle, claws much curved. Eyes beset with a velvety fringe 

 of white feathers. 



ZOSTEEOPS PALPEBROSA. 



(THE COMMON WHITE-EYE.) 



Sylvia palpebrosa, Temm. PL Col. 293. fig. 2 (1824). 



Zosterops nicobarii us, Blyth, J. A. S. B. 1845, xiv. p. 563. 



Zosterops palpebrosus, Blyth, J. A. S. B. 1846, xv. p. 44 ; id. Cat. B. Mus. A. S. B. p. 220 

 (1849); Kelaart, Prodromus, Cat. p. 121 (1852); Layard, Ann. & Mag. Nat. Hist. 

 1853, xii. p. 267 ; Jerdon, B. of Ind. ii. p. 265 (1863) ; Legge, J. A. S. (Ceylon Branch) 

 1870-71, p. 52 ; Holdsw. P. Z. S. 1872, p. 45S, pi. xx. fig. 1 ; Adam, Str. Feath. 1873, 

 p. 384 ; Hume, Nests and Eggs, ii. p. 397 (1874) ; Ball, Str. Feath. 1874, p. 417 ; Legge, 

 Ibis, 1874, p. 22 ; Walden, t. c. p. 143 ; Morgan, Ibis, 1875, p. 322 ; Hume, Str. Feath. 

 1875, p. 143 ; Brooks, t. c. p. 252 ; Butler & Hume, t. c. p. 491 ; Hume, ibid. 1876, 

 p. 463 ; Fairbank, ibid. 1877, p. 407. 



Zosterops nicobariensis, Hume, Str. Feath. 1874, p. 242, et 1876, p. 291. 



The White-eyed Warbler, Latham ; The White-eyed Tit, Jerdon ; The Zosterops of some. 



Adult imil ni"/ fiiiiiiii. Length 4-1 to 4-4 inches ; wing 2*05 to 2-1 ; tail l - 5 to 1*6 ; tarsus 0-6 to OG5 ; middle toe 

 and claw 0*5 ; bill to gape 0' l"> to 0*49. 



Mali . [ris ( very variable) brow nish olive or olive-grey, or grey mottled with brown, and often with a pale outer circle ; 

 bill blackish, bluish at base beneath ; legs and feet slate-blue. 



\Ikim' uniform yellowish green, slightly yellower on the upper tail-coverts and sides of neck, where it blends iuto the 

 primrose-yellow of the chin, fore neck, and upper part of chest; wings and tail brown, edged with a slightly 

 greener hue than the back; lores black, above which the feathers are yellowish ; a deep orbital fringe of white 

 feathers ; beneath albescent, shaded with greyish on the sides of the upper breast and on the flanks; centre of 

 belly with a faint yellowish wash; under tail-coverts and edge of wing yellow; under wing-coverts white ; the 

 loral spot varies in intensity, being blacker in birds which are in new feather than in others. 



Iris often tinged with reddish. I have myself only noticed this peculiarity in this sex; it may exist in 



the ether. 



06s. Mr. Holdsworth remarks (loc. cit.) thai specimens from the low country vary in size; I have found this to be 

 the case as regards bulk, but not in the wing to any extent. Indian specimens have the grey of the flanks 

 spreading more over the under surface than Ceylonese ; they vary, however, in this respect, and the exceptions to 

 the rule correspond too well with our birds to admit of any separation of the latter. The coloration of the upper 

 surface and the throat are the same in both forms. As regards size, six examples in the national collection from 

 various parts of India vary in the wing from 2-0 to 2-1 iuches; one from Kilghiris, wing 2-05, tail 1*6 (this is 

 paler beneath than some of the above-mentioned, but darker above); oue from Tenasserim, wing 2T, slightly 

 darker than the Ceylonese examples; one from Nepal, wing 2-0; one from Darjiling, wing 1'95 ; four from 



