Page:The Fauna of British India, including Ceylon and Burma (Birds Vol 2).djvu/58

44 lesser wing-coverts indigo-blue ; lower back and ramp rufous- grey ; upper tail-coverts, the tail, a portion of the outer webs of the scapulars, the whole of the tertiaries, and the greater portion of the outer webs of the secondaries bright chestnut ; remainder of the quills dark brown, the outer webs of the primaries margined with reddish grey ; primary-coverts blue, centred with blackish ; greater wing-coverts chestnut ; lower plumage pale buff, becoming paler on the vent and under tail -co verts.

Female. Forehead, crown, nape, and ear-coverts dark olive- brown ; lores and round the eye pale ashy ; back, scapulars, and rump rufous-ashy ; upper tail-coverts and tail chestnut ; lesser wing-coverts olive-brown, tinged with rufous on the margins ; greater coverts chestnut ; wings dark brown, the outer webs of the primaries rufescent, those of the other quills chestnut ; the tertiaries wholly chestnut; lower plumage pale buff, somewhat brighter on the throat and breast.

In the males legs, feet, and claws pale purplish blue ; bill black ; iris crimson ; in the adult female legs, feet, and claws plumbeous olive ; upper mandible pale horny-brown ; lower mandible fleshy- white ; iris dull red ; in a young female legs and feet pale horny- red ; iris pale red, speckled with white (Hume &f Davison).

Length about 7 ; tail 2'8 ; wing 3'2 ; tarsus '65 ; bill from gape -9.

I have not been able to examine a young bird of this species, but it probably follows the young of P. velatam in its style of coloration.

Distribution. Tenasserim from Nwalabo mountain to its southern extremity, extending to the Malay peninsula, Cochin China, Sumatra, and Borneo.

Genus TERPSIPHONE, Gloger, 1827.

In Terpsiphone the typical characteristics of the Flycatchers are developed to a greater extent than in any other genus. The bill is extremely large, depressed, and swollen, and the rictal bristles are very numerous, coarse, and long. The head is crested, and the tail is greatly developed in the mature males.

In Terpsiphone the sexes are alike, or closely so, during the first two years, and the prevailing colour of the plumage is chestnut. The female never drops her chestnut garb, but the male after the second autumn, or even later, assumes a white plumage. It thus happens that a pair may be found breeding both being in the chestnut plumage, or a female in chestnut plumage may be found mated with a white male.

The Paradise Flycatchers are found over the whole Empire, both on the Himalayas and in the plains and lesser hill-ranges, and are resident in many portions of the country, but in others they appear to be seasonal visitors, or in great measure so, but their movements are probably of no great extent.

The members of this genus are typical Flycatchers, catching