WHITE-BODIED SUNBIRD, 147 
seen in any other part of the plumage : the purple 
colour extends to the first range of the shoulder-co- 
vers, but all the rest of the wing is of a sepia-brown, 
inclining to fulvous on the margin of the quills : the 
tail is black glossed with purple, but not so rich as 
that of the back : the chin is glossy purple like the 
upper plumage, but its commencement is dull black : 
the sides of the head and neck are brown : all the 
under parts, from the chin, are of the purest white : 
the side-feathers beneath the wing are clear yellow. 
In the female the colours differ so much that it 
might be taken for a different species. The bril- 
liant purple on the head and back of the other sex 
is exchanged, in this, for an olive-grey, over which 
however there is a delicate gloss of violet : the tail- 
covers alone retain the rich purple of the other sex : 
the tail also is of the same dark purple : the chin 
and throat are pure white, but this gradually changes 
on the body to a straw-coloured yellow : the side- 
feathers are likewise of the same colour : the bill 
and feet in both sexes are brown : in the female 
there is a whitish line over the eye. There is 
some slight differences in structure worth noticing 
between this species and those from the Indian 
islands : the bill is of a stronger make and a straighter 
shape ; it is also less compressed on the sides and 
broader at the base. The nostrils in this genus are 
precisely the same as in Cinnyris and Diceum. 
Total length, 5 j inches; bill, X(j ; wings, 2 T R 0 ; tail 
beyond, 1 T e g ; ditto from the base, nearly ; tar- 
sus, x %. 
