172 Notes on various Indian and Malayan Birds. [No. 122. 



E. Rangoonensis, Gould, Proc. Zool. Soc. 1836,5. "Distinguish- 

 able from E. Malabaricus \subcristatus~] , to which it is nearly allied, by- 

 its shorter beak, and by the total absence from its forehead of the fine 

 curled plumes which decorate that bird; the wing also is somewhat 

 shorter." Gould, loc. cit. In the catalogue of Dr. McClelland's birds 

 from Assam, however, Dr. Horsfield writes : " One of our specimens 

 agrees accurately with Mr. Gould's specific character ; in two others, the 

 crest is less developed, and the lanceolate plumes on the throat are less 

 prominent" (Proc. Zool. Soc. 1839, 158). Mr. Gould's description is 

 as follows : " E. ater viridi splendens ; rectricum externarum scapis 

 longissimis, vexillis late spatulatis ad apicis marginem exteriorem prceditis. 

 Long. tot. (rectricibus externis exclusis), \2unc; rostri, 1%; alee, 6y caudee, 

 5f ; tarsi, 1." The expression "ater viridi metallice splendens" occurs 

 also in Mr. Gould's definition of E. grandis ; and a slight cast of green 

 is certainly discernible, more especially on the back, upon all three of 

 the closely allied species before me, one of which (judging from the 

 aggregate of the foregoing notices) I presume to be referrible to this 

 Rangoonensis. Length as described, the middle caudal feather b\ inches, 

 or but 4f inches in another specimen, and penultimate 6 inches and 

 4f inches ; wing from bend 5f and 5£ inches ; and bill to gape If inch, 

 that of E. cristatellus measuring 1|- inch, and sometimes rather more ; 

 the crest is hardly less developed than in Pastor cristatellus, or it may 

 be compared to that of E. remifer, but partakes more of the character 

 of that of E. cristatellus, and the nostrils are more densely impended 

 by recumbent plumes than in either of the two species last described. 

 One specimen has its outermost tail-feathers prolonged 12 inches 

 beyond the next, and the naked shaft makes one complete spiral turn, 

 and the barbed extremity another, twirling till its upper surface is 

 again brought upward at the tip ; the other specimen has much shorter 

 naked shafts and barbs, and the spirature is less, though still very 

 decided. This twist of the outermost tail-feathers is common to many 

 species of this strongly marked genus, is very perceptible in a slight 

 degree in the common D. balicassius, and is most curiously exemplified 

 in D. Crishna. The plumage of E. Rangoonensis resembles that of the 

 allied species, and the specimens here described are also from Ten- 

 asserim. 



In the catalogue before cited of Dr. McClelland's Assam birds, the 

 E. grandis is also included, with the remark, that " several specimens 



