210 
BIRDS OF BRITISH BURMAH. 
sides of tlie head and the whole lower plumage deep black ; greater wiag- 
coverts_, quills and tail black ; some o£ the coverts tipped with blue and 
the central tail-feathers glossed with blue. 
The female has the whole upper plumage, the lesser wing-coverts and the 
lower tail-coverts brownish blue, with the edges of the feathers brighter ; 
central tail-feathers and the outer webs of all the others, except the outer 
pair, like the upper plumage ; remainder of tail dark brown ; primaries and 
secondaries dark brown ; the greater wing-coverts, primary-coverts and 
tertiaries dark brown with a blue tinge on the outer webs ; sides of the head 
and whole lower plumage blue, very similar to the upper parts. 
Young birds are like the female. The male changes into adult plumage 
about March, and the change takes place without a moult ; the feathers of 
the upper parts first become fringed with bright blue ; the tail-coverts next 
become changed ; the lower plumage takes the longest to change, and 
young birds may frequently be met with having the lower plumage mixed 
black and dull blue, but the upper plumage that of the adult. 
Iris crimson ; eyelids pinkish ; bill and legs black ; mouth flesh-colour ; 
claws black. 
Length 10-3 inches, tail 4*2, wing 5*1, tarsus '85, bill from gape I'2. 
The female averages a little smaller. 
/. cyanea, from the Malay peninsula, differs in having the under tail- 
coverts loDger, nearly reaching to the tip of the tail. 
The Fairy Bluebird is abundant in all the evergreen forests of the 
Pegu hills from the frontier quite down to Rangoon. I have never seen 
it on the western slopes, where the forests are very dry and unsuitable. 
I have met with it in the plains between Bhaunee and Shwaygheen, 
but only where the forest was very thick and luxuriant. Dr. Armstrong 
states that it is common at Syriam and at China Bakeer in the Irrawaddy 
Delta. Capt. Wardlaw Ramsay remarks that he met with this bird only 
on the western slopes of the Karin hills and nowhere else. According to 
Mr. Davison it is common in all the evergreen forests of Tenasserim. Mr. 
Blyth records the bird from Arrakan, where no doubt it is abundant in 
suitable localities. 
The present species probably ranges some way down the Malay penin- 
sula, for my collectors procured a great number of these birds at Malewoon, 
and it is hardly likely to stop short there. 
It occurs in Siam and Cochin China, in the Khasia hills, Cachar and 
Assam, and, skipping over the greater part of India, reappears in the hills 
of Southern India, the Malabar coast, Ceylon and the Andaman Islands. 
This lovely bird is only found in evergreen forests, and is more abundant 
in hilly tracts than in the plains. It is generally found in pairs moving 
about from tree to tree in a restless manner. It feeds chiefly on fruit. 
The note of this bird is very sweet, and has been likened by Mr. Davison 
