Page:The Fauna of British India, including Ceylon and Burma (Birds Vol 2).djvu/31

Rh of moss, fur, and wool placed in a hollow at the side of the trunk of a tree. Brooks found the nest in Kashmir at the commencement of June. The eggs, four in number, are pale buff clouded with rufous, and measure about '62 by '48. Many males of this species breed while still in immature plumage, that is in the plumage of the female.

568. Cyornis superciliaris. The White-lrowed Blue Flycatcher.

Muscicapa superciliaris, Jerd. Madr. Journ. L. S. xi, p. 16 (1840).

Dimorpha albogularis, Blyth, J. A. S. B. xi, p. 190 (1842).

Muscicapa ciliaris, Hodgs. in Gray's Zool. Misc. p. 84 (1844).

Muscicapa hemileucura, Hodgs. in Gray's Zool. Misc. p. 84 (1844).

Muscicapula acornaus, Hodgs., Blyth, J. A. S. B. xvi, p. 127 (1847).

Erythrosterna acornaus (Hodgs.}, Blyth, Cat. p. 171 ; Jerd. B. 1. i, p. 483 ; Hume, Cat. no. 325. Muscicapula hemileucura (Hodgs.}, Horsf. fy M. Cat. i. p. 296.

Muscicapula albogularis (Bl.} } 'Horsf. fy M. Cat. i, p. 297.

Muscicapula superciliaris (Jerd.), Blyth, Cat. p. 172 ; Horsf. fy M. Cat. i, p. 296; Jerd. B. I. i, p. 470 ; Stoliczka, J. A. S. B. xxxvii. pt. ii, p. 30 ; Hume, N. $ E. p. 213 ; Ball, S. F. v, p. 415 ; Hume, Cat. no. 310 ; Sharpe, Cat. B. M. iv, p. 204 ; Barnes, Birds Bom. p. 166.

Muscicapula ciliaris (Hodgs.}, Hume, Cat. no. 311 bis.

Cyornis superciliaris (Jerd.}, Oates in Hume's N. 8f E. 2nd ed. ii, p. 4.

The White-brotved Blue Flycatcher, Tlie Brown Flycatcher, Jerd.

Coloration. Male. The whole upper plumage, lesser and median wing-coverts, ear-coverts, cheeks, and sides of the neck dull blue ; greater' coverts and quills dark brown, edged with pale blue; tail black, edged with blue, the basal half of all the feathers except the median pair white ; lores black ; a broad supercilium from the eye to the nape white ; a broad collar across the breast, interrupted in the middle, dull blue like the back; the whole lower plumage white.

Female. After the autumnal moult the upper plumage is olive brown, the forehead tinged with fulvous, the crown with minute dark spots ; the upper tail-coverts tinged with blue ; wing-coverts and tertiaries edged and tipped with fulvous ; the other quills more narrowly edged with the same ; tail brown, with a tinge of blue on the outer webs ; lores and sides of the head fulvescent ; lower plumage pale buff, turning to white on the lower part of the abdomen and under tail-coverts.

When the plumage becomes worn, the female is frequently found with the back and rump suffused with blue.

The nestling is ashy brown above, with numerous buff spots, and the wing-coverts tipped with the same ; lower plumage pale buff, closely mottled with brown ; the outer webs of the tail-feathers suffused with blue. In the young male the white on the tail is present from the earliest age. The spotted plumage is soon lost, and the adult plumage quickly acquired.