THE COMMON lOKA 
Aegtthina tiphia t'spfua {Lhui.) 
Dcscripiiotr. — The common iora is a bird of sparrow-size, 
both sexes of which at a distance of a few yards appear yel- 
lowish, the male almost canary-like particularly when one is 
rej^arding him, as one usually is, from below. The sexes are 
rather different iu plumagt. 
In Indian birds in the breeding plumage the male has the 
upper parts inchiding the wings and tail mostly black with 
white bars across the wings; the underparts are yellow. In 
the "winter"' or non-breeding plumage much of the black of 
the upper parts is replaced by green. 
The female is yellowish green above and below, the wing- 
quilts brown but with yellowish edges. There are white bars 
across the wings. 
The irides are straw colour, the bill slaty blue and black 
and the feet slaty blue. 
Total length 5 to sj inches; wing about 2^ inches. 
The males found in Borneo and Sumatra do not turn black 
on the back and head in the breeding season like Indian males 
and It would appear tlmt birds from the Malay Peninsula are 
intermediate between the two extremes, occasionally though 
by no means ahvays, developing the back mantle and head. 
The males in Singapore are often largely black above. 
D^stnbHtiott :~ThG common Iora has been divided into 
several races, the plumages of which are of special interest to 
the ornithologist. Both sexes of the bird as found in Java 
are, for instance, %'ery similar to that of the female of the 
race inhabiting the Malay Peninsula. For the purposes of this 
hook it may be said that the Iora is found in India, the Indo- 
Chinese countries and Malaysia, 
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