Genus lEENA. 
Characters the same as those of the subfamily, of which it is the only genus. 
lEENA PUELLA. 
(THE FAIRY BLUEBIRD.) 
Coracias puella, Latham, Ind. Orn. i. p. 171 (1790). 
Irena puella (L.), M‘Clell. P. Z. S. 1839, p. 160; Jerdon, Cat. B. S. India, Madr. Journ. 
1839, X. p. 262 ; Blyth, Cat. B. Mus. A. S. B. p. 214 (1849, in pt.) ; Layard & 
Kelaart, Cat. B. Prodromus, App. p. 58 (1853) ; Layard, Ann. & Mag. Nat. Hist. 
1854, xiii. p. 130; Horsf. & Moore, Cat. B. Mus. E. I. Co. i. p. 273 (1854); Jerdon, 
B. of Ind. ii. p. 105 (1863) ; Walden, Ibis, 1871, p. 170 ; Holdsworth, P. Z. S. 1872^ 
p. 452; Ball, Str. Eeath. 1873, p. 71; Hume, Nests and Eggs, ii. p. 298 (1874); 
id. St. Eeath. 1874, p. 226, et 1875, pp. 130, 325 ; Armstrong, ibid, 1876, p. 326 ; 
Sharpe, Cat. B. iii. p. 268 (1877) ; Fairbank, Str. Eeath. 1877, p. 406 ; Hume & Davison* 
ibid. 1878, p. 328. 
Irena indica, A. Hay, J. A. S. B, 1846, xv. p, 170. 
Irena, sp. ?, Kelaart, Prodromus, Cat. p. 124 (1852). 
The Fairy Boiler, Latham. Nil rajah kurulla 1, Sinhalese. 
Adult male and female (Andamans). Wing 5-0 inches ; tail 3-85 to 4-2 ; tarsus 0-7 to 0-75 ; mid toe 0-6 claw 
(straight) 0-27 ; bill to gape 1-15 ; under tail-coverts falling short of the tip of the tail by 1-5. ’ 
Adult male (Ceylon, Poole collection). Wing 5'0 inches ; tail 4‘0. 
Dr. Armstrong gives the measurements of Burmese examples in the flesh as Length 9-75 to 10-3 inches • winp- 4-8 
to 5-2 ; tail 3'75 to 4-25 ; tarsus 0‘78 to 0‘85 ; bill to gape !•! to 1-2. ’ ° 
“ Iris light reddish brown, in a female deep red ; bill, legs, feet, and claws black ” {Armstrong). 
Male. Top of the head to within one eighth of an inch of the culmen and the eyes, nape, back of neck, entire back 
upper and under tail-coverts, sides of the rump, scapulars, lesser wing-coverts, and tips of the greater coverts' 
glistening lazuhne blue, mostly pervaded with a purplish hue, except on the head ; rest of the plumage deep 
black, less intense on the wings and tail ; the inner webs of the quills brownish black. At each side of the nape 
there are several lengthened hairs. ^ 
Female. Above and beneath a dull greenish or Prussian blue, brightening on the upper and under tail-coverts ■ the 
tips of the feathers are brighter than the central portions ; the shafts of the feathers blackish • primaries 
secondaries, and greater coverts blackish brown, the primaries edged with blue, and the imier secondaries washed 
with the same ; central tail-feathers blue, and the remainder blackish brown, the innermost edged outwardlv wnth 
blue lores blackish, the ear-coverts duskier than the surrounding parts. 
06s. Layard’s Ceylonese specimen corresponds entirely with an Andaman example in my collection and the latter is 
identical with Indian ones. The Malaccan form {I. cyanea) differs from the Indian solely in the shorter tail but 
equally long upper and under tail-coverts, causing a diminution of the distance between the tips of the coverts 
and those of the rectrices. I. cyanea measures in the tail 3-5 inches, and the upper tail-coverts fall short of its tip 
by about 0-9 inch, while the lower approach to within less than half an inch of it. The race inhabiting the more 
southerly region comprised of Labuan, Borneo, and Sumatra has the tail shorter still, about 3-2 inches, and the 
