THE BURMESE PARADISE FLYCATCHER. 261 
Family MUSCICAPIDiE. 
Genus TERPSIPHONE, Gloger. 
247. TERPSIPHONE AFFINIS. 
THE BURMESE PARADISE FLYCATCHER. 
Tchitrea affinis, A. Hay, Bl J. A. S. B. xv. p. 292 ; Jerd. B. Ind. i. p. 448 ; Hume, 
S. F. ii. p. 216 5 Bl ^ Wald. B. Burm. p. 131. Tchitrea paradisi {Linn.), 
Hume, S. F. iii. p. 102. Muscipeta affinis^ Hume Sj- Dav. S. F. vi. p. 223 ; 
Hume, S. F viii. p. 92 ; Sctdly, S. F. viii. p. 274. Terpsiphone affinis, Salvad. 
Uce. Born. p. 137 ; Anders. Yunnan Exped. p. 654 ; Sharpe, Cat. Birds B. Mus. 
iv. p. 349. 
Description. — Male. The whole head and neck black glossed with blue ; 
lower plumage,, axillaries and under wing-coverts pure white ; back^ sca- 
pulars, rump and upper wing-coverts white, with indistinct blackish shaft- 
stripes; lesser and median wing-coverts white, the shafts conspicuously 
black; greater coverts and the tertiaries white, the shafts and a por- 
tion of the webs on either side black ; primaries black edged with white; 
secondaries black, very broadly edged with white on both webs, the white 
increasing in extent as the feathers approach the body ; tail white, the 
shafts black, except on the central pair, where the shafts turn white 
towards the tip ; all the tail-feathers finely margined with black. 
The adult male in the non-breeding season loses the long central tail- 
feathers. 
The female has the forehead and crown glossy black ; the sides of the 
head, the chin, throat, breast and a collar round the neck ashy ; the 
abdomen white tinged with buff; the flanks and under tai] -coverts buff; 
the whole upper plumage, lesser wing-coverts and tail chestnut ; the 
median and greater coverts and all the quills brown edged with chestnut ; 
the long tail-feathers are wanting at all seasons. 
Young birds of both sexes are similar to the female. The young male 
in its second year loses the buff tinge on the abdomen, the ashy parts 
become darker, and the central tail-feathers are replaced by long ones. 
In this plumage the male probably breeds for the first time ; subsequently 
the chin and throat as well as the sides of the head turn black, and the 
white plumage of the adult is assumed either by a moult or, as is very 
probable, by a change in the colour of the feathers only. 
Iris hazel-brown ; eyelids plumbeous, the edges tumid and rich blue ; 
r 
