236 
BIRDS OF BRITISH BURMAH. 
Genus PEEICEOCOTUS, Boie. 
226. PEEICROCOTUS ELEGANS. 
MACCLELLAND'S MINIVET. 
Phoenicornis elegans, M'Clell. P. Z. S. 1839, p. 156. Pericrocotus elegans, 
Hume, S. F. iii. p. 95 ; Sharpe, S. F. iv. p. 206 ; Hume, S. F. v. p. 194 ; Anders. 
Yunnan Exped. p. 648 ; Sharpe, Cat. Birds B. Mus. iv. p. 73 ; Hume, S. F. viii. 
p. 91, Pericrocotus fraterculus, Stoinh. Ibis, 1870, p. 244. Pericrocotus 
speciosus, Bl. 8f Wald. B. Burm. p. 123. 
Description. — Male. Whole head^ back, scapulars and lesser coverts 
glossy black ; remainder of lower surface^ rump, upper tail-coverts and 
under wing-coverts scarlet ; greater coverts black very broadly tipped with 
scarlet ; primaries black with a band of scarlet across all but the first three ; 
secondaries scarlet at the base and black on the remainder; the later 
secondaries with a scarlet oval drop near the extremity of the outer webs ; 
tertiaries plain black ; tail scarlet, excepting the inner webs of the central 
pair of feathers, which are black. 
Female. Forehead, paling posteriorly up to the crown of the head, the 
sides of the head and the whole lower plumage yellow ; rump and upper 
tail-coverts vellow tinged with green ; back of the head, back, scapulars 
and lesser coverts deep grey ; greater coverts blackish tipped with grey ; 
primaries dark brown, with a band of yellow across all but the first three ; 
secondaries dark brown, the bases of all bright yellow ; the later seconda- 
ries with an oval yellow spot near the tips of the outer webs ; tertiaries 
plain dark brown ; central tail-feathers black ; the next pair black, with the 
terminal half of the outer web yellow ; remaining feathers yellow with the 
bases black. 
The young are coloured like the female, but have the forehead tinged 
with orange at a very early age. 
Bill and legs black ; inside of mouth flesh-colour ; iris dark brown ; 
eyelids grey ; claws dark horn. 
Length 8 inches, tail 3*6, wing 3*7, tarsus '75, bill from gape '9. The 
female is a trifle shorter. 
This species differs from P. speciosus of India in being much smaller 
and in having, as a rule, the outer webs of the central tail-feathers red, 
whereas in P. speciosus these are either entirely black or with only a patch 
of red on them. 
P. fraterculus from China is of the same size as P. elegans, and similar 
to it in all respects except that the whole of the central tail-feathers 
are black. It is undoubtedly a race of P. elegans and not of P. speciosus. 
In British Burmah this species is found over the whole of Pegu. I have 
