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In the series of specimens I have examined I find considerable variations, especially in those 

 from Asia. All that I have seen from Ceylon belong to the variety called by Hodgson torquatus, 

 and have the throat verditer-blue, purer in some specimens and in others much intermixed with 

 green ; and in some specimens the crown is more rufous than usual. This variety is, Dr. Jerdon 

 says, by no means uncommon in Southern India ; and he thinks that the blue tinge is owing to 

 abrasion of the feathers. A specimen from Pegu, in British Burmah, has the throat as green as 

 in Egyptian examples, and the head and nape more rufous than usual ; but I find that almost all 

 the Indian examples I have examined vary much in the tinge of the head, as do also those from 

 Egypt, but to a smaller degree. At first, on comparing examples from Ceylon with others from 

 Egypt, I was inclined to treat this blue-throated variety as a distinct species ; but a careful exami- 

 nation of a series of specimens has convinced me that this cannot be done. Though in Egyptian 

 birds the throat is almost always pure green, yet in one or two I find the blue streaks on the 

 side larger, and there are blue feathers here and there on the throat, the abdomen in some being 

 much tinged with blue. According to Mr. Blanford, as above stated, specimens from Persia and 

 Baluchistan lack the rufous coloration on the head, but have the throat blue ; and Mr. A. O. 

 Hume remarks that examples from Sindh also lack the rufous coloration on the head. Lieut. 

 W. V. Legge, speaking of the blue-throated variety, which is the prevalent form in Ceylon, says 

 (I. c), "the blue throat (vide Mr. Holdsworth's catalogue, P. Z. S. 1872, p. 422) appears to me 

 to be a marked characteristic of maturity ; this part in the young bird is yellowish green, sur- 

 rounded by the pale green of the adjacent parts of the fore neck, the throat-band being at that 

 period ill defined and narrower than later on." A specimen from Kenoor, in Captain Elwes's 

 collection, has the upper parts similar to those from Egypt ; but the throat is washed with 

 greenish blue, though not so distinctly as in most specimens from Ceylon. In the British 

 Museum there is a good series of specimens from various localities, which differ as follows. 

 Those from Egypt, Nubia, and Abyssinia all belong to the usual form found in Egypt, having 

 the throat green and the head but slightly tinged with rufous. One from Khist, north-east of 

 Bushire, and one from Gvvadar, in Baluchistan, have the throat marked with verditer-blue, but 

 not very distinctly, and the head is as in Egyptian examples. Two from Madras, and one from 

 Lahore, have the head rather rufous, that from Lahore being more marked with this colour ; but 

 in one there is scarcely a trace of blue on the throat, and none on the other two. One from 

 Darjeeling has the crown as in Egyptian specimens, but the throat and underparts are washed 

 with greenish blue ; and one from Nepal has the crown tinged with rufous and the throat and 

 underparts more blue than in any other specimen I have examined. Four from Kamptee have 

 the head slightly tinged with rufous, but they vary much in the amount of blue on the throat. 

 Lastly, two specimens from Burmah have the head and nape very rufous, but the throat is 

 coloured as in Egyptian specimens, being green with a blue streak on each side. 



From the above it will be seen that the prevalent form in North-east Africa has the crown 

 sometimes without a tinge of rufescent golden, and sometimes tinged with that colour; but the 

 throat is, as a rule, green, with a blue streak on each side, though occasionally there are traces 

 of verditer-blue on the centre of the throat. In India, on the other hand, though the green- 

 throated form is found, yet most specimens have more or less a blue tinge on the throat, and 

 in some the crown and nape are tinged with rufous, whereas in Burmah one finds a form with a 



