332 
BIRDS OF BRITISH BURMAH. 
Family DIC^IDiE. 
Genus DICTUM, Cuvier, 
314. DICTUM CRUENTATUM. 
THE SCARLET-BACKED FLOWERPECKER. 
Certhia cruentata, Linn. Syst. Nat. i. p. 187. Certhia coccinea, Scop. Del. Faun, 
et Flor. Insuh. ii. p. 91. Nectarinia ignita, Beghie, Ann. Nat. Hist. ser. 1, 
xvii. p. 408. Dicaeum coccineum, Jerd. B. Ind. i. p. 373. Dicseum 
cruentatum, Wald. P. Z. S. 1866, p. 544 ; Ifume, S. F. iii. p. 87 j Bl. 8f Wald. 
B. Burm. p. 142 ; Armstrong, S. F. iv. p. 315 ; David et Oust. Ois. Chine, p. 83 ; 
Hume 8j- Dav. S. F. vi. p. 192 ; Anders. Yunnan Exped. p. 663 ; Oates, S. F. vii. 
p. 46; Hume, 8. F. yiii. p. 90. 
Description. — Male. Forehead, crown^ nape^ back, rump and upper tail- 
coverts rich crimson ; lores, sides of the head and of the neck, tail, wings 
and wing-coverts black ; chin, throat and the whole lower plumage bufFy 
white. 
The female has the head, nape and back olive-green, the centres of the 
feathers of the crown darker and the nape with a golden yellow tinge ; 
rump and upper tail -coverts red; tail black; the whole lower plumage 
ashy buff, darker on the sides of the neck and body ; upper wing-coverts 
dark brown, edged with olive-green ; tertiaries the same ; primaries and 
secondaries brown, edged exteriorly with greenish white. 
Legs and feet black ; bill and mouth black ; iris dark brown ; eyelids 
plumbeous ; the female has the mouth flesh-coloured. 
Length 3' 5 inches, tail 1*05, wing 1*9, tarsus '5, bill from gape '45. The 
female is a little smaller. 
The Scarlet-backed Flo werpecker appears to be found over every portion 
of British Burmah. Mr. Blyth records it from Arrakan. It is extremely 
abundant in Southern Pegu ; and it has been obtained in Northern Pegu, 
at Thayetmyo by Capt. Feilden and at Tonghoo by Capt. Wardlaw Ramsay. 
Mr. Davison procured it in nearly every portion of Tenasserim ; but Capt. 
Bingham did not meet with it in the Thoungyeen valley. 
It extends through the Indo-Burmese countries to Bengal and the South- 
eastern Himalayas ; and it is found throughout Southern China. To the 
south of Burmah it ranges down the Malay peninsula to Sumatra. It 
occurs in Siam ; and, according to Dr. Tiraud, it is abundant in Cochin 
China. In Borneo it is replaced by D. nigrimentum, a closely allied species 
with the chin black. 
