Page:The Fauna of British India, including Ceylon and Burma (Birds Vol 2).djvu/139

Rh Female. The small series of this bird iii the British Museum appears to consist entirely of males. Legge thus describes the female : Above dark bluish slate, pervaded with brownish on the head, the margins of all the feathers black ; outer webs of pri- maries and secondaries washed with brownish slaty ; tail blackish brown ; beneath slaty washed with earthy brown, the feathers of the abdomen sometimes with light shaft-streaks ; under wing-coverts edged with earthy brown.

In the male the iris is pale brown ; eyelid and bill orange-yellow ; legs and feet paler yellow than the bill ; claws yellowish horny. In the female the bill is yellowish orange ; eyelid yellow ; legs and feet pale yellow (Leyye).

Length about 9-5 ; tail 3'6 to 4 ; wing 4-3 to 4-5 ; tarsus 1*3 ; bill from gape 1*2.

This species differs from M. maxima in being very much smaller and in having yellow feet ; from M. simillima in being smaller and blacker ; from. M. bourdilloni also in being smaller, and in having the feathers of the upper plumage margined with bluish grey ; and from M. erythrotis in having the whole head black or brown.

Distribution. A resident in the forests of Ceylon above 2500 feet elevation. Breeds from April to June, constructing a cup-shaped nest in trees, and laying four eggs, which are pale green marked with reddish-brown and umber, and measure about 1'05 by '82.

669. Merula bourdilloni. Bourdillon's Blackbird.

Merula kinnisi (Kelaart), apud Hume, S. F. vii, p. 35 ; Terry, S. F. x, p. 474.

Merula bourdilloui, Seebohm, Cat. B. M. v, p. 251, pi. xv (1881) ; Gates in Hume's N. $ E. 2nd ed. ii, p. 91.

Coloration. Male. The whole upper plumage deep black ; tail black ; wings black, the outer webs of the feathers suffused with slaty grey ; the whole lower plumage blackish brown.

Female. The only bird of this sex that I have seen has the whole upper plumage dark brown tinged with olivaceous, the chin and throat whity brown, and the lower plumage fulvous ashy.

In the male the bill, legs, feet, and claws bright orange-red ; iris dark brown (Hume Coll.).

Length about 9'5 ; tail 3'6 to 4 ; wing 4'6 to 5 ; tarsus 1'25 ; bill from gape 1/2.

This species, long accepted as M. Icinnisi, differs from that species in being larger and in having the upper plumage (in the males) deep black without slaty margins. The legs would also appear to be of a different colour, judging from the recorded colours above. I have not been able to compare females of the two species together.

Distribution. The hills of Southern Travancore, extending north to the Palnis. This species does not appear to be found below 3000 feet.

Habits, $c. Breeds on the Palnis in May and June. The nest