172 



Young. Rather duller and paler than the adult, the throat pale yellowish green, and the collar on the throat 

 smaller and less distinct ; the blue stripes on each side of the neck are wanting. 



This brilliantly coloured and elegant species is only found just within the limits of the Western 

 Palsearctic Region, being met with in that portion which extends into North-east Africa : it has 

 also been obtained in Palestine; for Canon Tristram writes (Ibis, 1862, p. 278), it has been 

 " shot in the valley of the Jordan ; probably this is the western limit of this species, which has 

 not, I believe, been hitherto noted as occurring in Syria." In North-east Africa it is common, 

 and, Captain Shelley informs me, ranges northwards into the Palsearctic Region ; and in Middle 

 Egypt it is resident throughout the year. Mr. J. H. Gurney, jun., writes to me that when 

 travelling up the Nile he met with it two days after leaving Cairo, and thence it was common 

 up to Assouan; and Von Heuglin writes (Orn. N.O.-Afr. i. p. 203) that it is a resident in 

 Middle Egypt, between 24° and 28° N. lat., and common along the Nile and its canals, where 

 it breeds from February to April. In the autumn he observed it in Eastern Kordofan, and in 

 the spring along the Gazelle River ; and he believes that it breeds in the Bogos country. 

 Mr. Blanford says that it is common near the coast of Abyssinia, especially in the mangroves 

 on the shores of Annesley Bay. It has also been recorded from West Africa. A specimen 

 from Barbary is in the Heine collection ; it has been obtained in the Gaboon ; and the specimen 

 on which Swainson's name of viridissimus was based is said to have been obtained in Senegal. 



To the eastward the present species is found as far as Burmah, and as far south as Ceylon. 

 Mr. Blanford informs me that " in Persia it is now migratory, and is only found in the lowlands 

 of Southern Persia and Baluchistan. All the specimens procured have a distinctly blue chin and 

 throat, and in this respect agree with the Indian race (M. torquatus, Hodgs.), whilst the upper 

 plumage resembles that of the African M. viridissimus, there being in no case the ferruginous 

 tint on the head seen in many Indian specimens. As a rule Indian birds have a decidedly longer 

 bill than those from Egypt ; and in this respect all Persian and Baluchistan specimens agree with 

 Egyptian." Mr. A. O. Hume writes (Stray Feathers, i. p. 167) that it is " pretty common all the 

 year round in Upper Sindh ; in Lower Sindh it appears comparatively rare. The Sindh speci- 

 mens almost entirely lack the rufous tinge on the head ; in fact, in coloration as in geographical 

 position, they are at the opposite end of the scale to the Burmese birds, in which the rufous 

 tinge on the cap is so conspicuous." Dr. Jerdon says (B. of India, i. p. 205) that it is found 

 over the whole of India, extending to Arakan, the Indo-Chinese countries, and to Ceylon. It 

 does not ascend mountains, to any height at least; and the specimen in the British Museum 

 from Mr. Hodgson, marked "from Darjeeling," assuredly never was killed there, though it occurs 

 at the foot of the hills. It appears to be common in Burmah ; and Mr. Blyth says that it 

 inhabits "Arakan, Tenasserim provinces, Siam," and that " Mr. Wardlaw Ramsay records it 

 from Rangoon, the Tonghoo, and the Karen hills." Referring to its occurrence in Ceylon, 

 Lieut. W. V. Legge writes (Ibis, 1875, p. 281) as follows: — "Abundant both in the maritime 

 region and in the interior. This species breeds in the sand-hills of Hambantotta. Its range in 

 Ceylon is from the maritime regions of the north, north-west, and east, down the whole of the 

 east side of the island, and round the south-east as far as Tangalle. I have never seen it on the 

 southern half of the west coast ; but Mr. Holdsworth has observed it at Colombo, although I 

 never saw it during a three years' residence in that part." 



