Gould received specimens of this bird found in the woodlands of Sikkim, India, from Edward Vernon Harcourt (1825-1891), but examples were known in British collections for some time. It was named by Gould after Sir Philip de Malpas Grey Egerton (1806-1881), a politician and distinguished palaeontologist, writer on fossil fishes, and subscriber to Gould's books.
According to the ornithologist, T.C. Jerdon, this bird was very common near Darjeeling, at altitudes from 3,000 to 6,000 feet. He added that it 'associates in small flocks, wanders from tree to tree, carefully examining the foliage and branches, never descends to the ground, and feeds on both fruit and insects, especially the latter.'
The plumage of the male and female is similar, but the female is slightly smaller. The birds are depicted lifesize. The plant is Rhododendron camelliaeflorum Camellia-flowered Rhododendron, illustrated by W. Fitch in Curtis's Botanical Magazine, August 1856, vol.82, pl.4932. The rhododendron was found by Dr. J. Hooker in the pine forests of East Nepal and Sikkim and grown in the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.
J. Gould, Proceedings of the Zoological Society, 1836, p.18
T.C. Jerdon, Birds of India, 1862-64, II, part 1, p.52
DISTRIBUTION: Southern Asia: northeastern India, southeastern Tibet, southwestern China and western, northern and eastern Burma