XESTS AXD EGGS OF AUSTRALIAI^ niKbS. t^j^g 



438. — Alcyone azurea (sub-speciess) i'vlchka, Gould. — (71) 



PURPLE KINGFISHER. 



Reference. — Cat. Birds Brit. Mus., vol. xvii., p. i6g. 



Vrcvious Description of Eggs. — North: Proc. Linn. Soc, N.S. Wales, 

 2nd ser., vol. iii., p. 269 (1888). 



Gen(ir(ii)]iic(tl Didrihution. — North-west Australia, Northern Teixi- 

 tory aud North Queensland. 



Nest. — Usually a hole in the bauk of a stream. 



Egys. — Clutch, five, probably six occasionally ; similar to those of 

 the southern representative, A. azurea, being rounded in form, pearly 

 wliite, and the texture of the shell fine and very glossy. Dimensions 

 in mches: (1) "87 x -73, (2) 85 x -74 (North). 



Observations. — From the resplendent beauty of the purplish-blue of 

 its coat the Piu'ple Kingfisher is probably the most captivating of the 

 Australian Alcyones, and is closely alhed to, if not actually a sub- 

 species of the lovely Blue Kingfisher — A. azurea. 



Mr. North gives an interesting accoimt of the finding of the first 

 recorded nest of the Purple Kingfisher by Messrs. E. J. Cairn and 

 Robert Grant, vfho were collecting in the neighbourhood of the Mount 

 Bellenden-Ker, Northern Queensland, on behalf of the trustees of the 

 Australian Museum. The following is Mr. Grant's own statement 

 relative to the taking of the nest ; — 



"On the 26th December, 1887, at Riverstone, about sixteen miles 

 inland from Cairns, in company with an aboriginal named ' CharUe ' 

 (native name Euryimba), I saw a Kingfisher fly into a hole in the bank 

 of a creek. After running forwai^d and placing my hat over the en- 

 trance, I, with my sheath-knife, enlarged the opening, and putting my 

 hand in caught one of the parents. While engaged in seeming it, my 

 attention was drawn away from the nest for a moment, when to my 

 surprise another bird flew out, so both the parent birds were in the 

 hole at the same time. Afterwards, upon clissection, the bird I cap- 

 tiu-cd proved to be the male. The ne.st. if worthy of the name, was 

 placed near the end of the tunnel, wliicli was about sixteen inches in 

 length and inclined upwards. It was composed of a few cast fish bones, 

 and small pieces of decayed roots, but in all not sufficient to protect 

 the eggs from the sandy soil at the bottom. The nest contained five 

 eggs, three of which were unfortunately broken." 



