Adult Male. Plate CCCLXVII. Fig. 1.
Bill straight, rather short, slender, compressed; upper mandible with a tumid fleshy covering at the base, where it is straight in its dorsal outline, convex towards the end, with a sharp-edged, declinate, rather obtuse tip; lower mandible with the angle long and pointed, the sides erect at the base, sloping outwards toward the end, the edges sharp, the tip narrow but blunt. Nostrils medial, oblique, linear.
Head small, oblong, compressed; neck of moderate length; body full. Feet short, strong; tarsus very short, rounded, with two anterior rows of large hexagonal scales; the hind part fleshy with very small scales; toes broad and flat beneath, marginate, with large scutella above; the hind toe smallest, the lateral nearly equal, the middle toe much longer. Claws of moderate size, arched, compressed, grooved beneath, rather acute.
Plumage rather compact above, blended beneath, on the hind neck strong, with metallic gloss. Wings long, the second quill longest, the third only a twelfth of an inch shorter, the first six-twelfths shorter, and a little longer than the fourth, the rest rather quickly graduated; secondaries of moderate breadth and rounded. First quill with the outer web narrower at the base than toward the end, the second and third quills with their outer webs having a slight sinus and attenuated toward the end. Tail of moderate length, rounded, of twelve broad abruptly rounded feathers, of which the lateral is half an inch shorter than the longest.
Bill yellow, with the tips black. Feet yellow, claws greyish-black. Bare space around the eyes carmine. The head, fore neck, and breast are of a light reddish-purple or wine-colour, which on the abdomen and lower tail-coverts fades into whitish; a narrow half-ring of white on the hind neck, the lower part of which is of a metallic brownish-green tint. The upper parts are greyish-blue, darker, and tinged with brown on the fore part of the back and scapulars; sides of the body and rump greyish-blue. Alula, primary coverts, primary quills, and outer secondaries brownish-black, very narrowly margined with brownish-white. Tail greyish-blue at the base, much paler and tinged with yellow toward the end, these colours being separated at the distance of two inches from the tip by a band of black.
Length to end of tail 16 inches, to end of wings 13 3/4; wing from flexure 9; tail 6 1/4; bill along the ridge 10/12, along the edge of lower mandible 1 1/12; tarsus 1 1/12; hind toe 8/12, its claw 5 1/2/12; middle toe 1 4 1/2/12, its claw 7/12.
Adult Female. Plate CCCLXVII. Fig. 2.
The female differs from the male only in having the tints a little duller, and on the upper parts somewhat darker, with the black band on the tail less decided, the middle feathers being but faintly marked with it.
Length to end of tail 15 1/2 inches.
It was omitted to mention that the minute spots on the eggs are white.