THE WHITE-BROWED BLUE FLYCATCHER. 293 
coverts and quills dark brown^ edged with pale bluish ; tail black edged 
with blue^ the basal half of all the feathers except the central ones white ; 
lores black ; a broad distinct supercilium reaching to the nape white ; a 
broad collar across the breast^ interrupted in the middle, blue like the back ; 
the whole lower plumage white. 
The female has the upper plumage brown, the feathers of the head 
centred darker; the forehead, rump and upper tail-coverts tinged with 
rufous ; wing-coverts, quills and tail brown, edged paler ; lores mixed rufous 
and white ; ear-coverts greyish brown with the shafts paler ; lower plumage 
white, sullied with brown on the breast and sides of the body. 
Length about 4*7 inches, tail 1*9, wing 2*4, tarsus '6, bill from gape '6. 
The female is rather smaller. 
I insert the present species in my catalogue on the strength of two 
female specimens procured by Capt. Wardlaw Ramsay in Karennee at an 
elevation of 2500 feet. No male was secured, and therefore I have had some 
difficulty in arriving at the determination of these two female birds. I am 
not sure that the females of this species can be separated with any certainty 
from the females of M. astigma ; but after examining all the specimens of 
both species that I have been able to get together, I incline to the opinion 
that Capt. Ramsay's birds belong to M. superciliaris rather than to M. 
astigma. Males of the two species are separable at a glance, M. astigma 
having no white at the base of the tail and no broad white supercilium. 
Capt. Beavan some years ago procured a bird at Zwagaben in Tenasserim 
which he called E, acornaus with some doubt. It was probably the present 
species. 
Observers in Burmah are recommended to pay great attention to these 
obscure Flycatchers, which, no doubt, are much commoner than is generally 
supposed. 
The White-browed Blue Flycatcher has a considerable range, being 
found in the cold weather over a great part of India and nesting in the 
Himalayas. 
The nest, which is a small cup made of moss and lined with fine roots 
and hairs, is placed in a hole of a tree or wall. The eggs, four to six in 
number, are pale green, almost entirely covered with brownish red. 
