ALCyONR. 441 



The nests presented by Mr. I-Saiifield are shalluw, rounded, open basket-shaped structures, 

 attached toj,'ether and formed of libre, f^rass-stemsand sheaths of ,t,'rass stalks, finely agglutinated 

 with the birds saliva, the latter material being more thickly disposed on the side of the nest 

 which is attached to the rock, and which runs up into a point on either side of some, in others 

 standing up as a flat surface about an inch aliove the rim of the nest. An average nest measures 

 e.xternally two inches and a half in diameter by one inch and a quarter in depth, and on that 

 side which is attached to tlie rock two inches, the inner cup measuring two inches and a 

 quarter in diameter by one inch in depth. 



Only one egg is laid for a sitting, which typically is of an elongated ellipse in form, pure 

 white, the shell being close-grained, smooth and lustreless. Three specimens measure as 

 follows;— Length (.A) 0-82 x 0-53 inches; (B) 0-82 x 0-54 inches ; (C) 0-83 x 0-52 inches. 



The figure on the preceding page is reproduced from a photograph taken by the late Mr. H. 

 Barnes, junr. 



Alcyone pusilla. 



LtTTLE KINGFISHER. 



Cpi/x pusilla, Tennn., PI Col., Tom V., pi. .")95, fig. 3 (1836). 



Alcyone /m.-iil la, Gould, Hds. Austr., fol. Vol. II., pi. 2(5 (1848); id., Ilaiid-bk. Bds. Auslr,, Vol. I, 

 p 14-J {KSG.5) ; Sharpe, Mon. Alced., p. .V3, pi. IG (18G9). 



AnuLT MALE. — (li'ui'ral colour aliove, iuclndimi the croivti ami sides of head anil neck, rich 

 uUramnrhie ; iviiigs blackish, the apical portiott of the npper n;i)ig-coeerts and the secondaries 

 stroiu/ly u-asJied ivilh nltramarine ; the rump and upper tail-coverts a rather brighter blue ; tail- 

 feathers bine above, blackish beloiv ; base of the centre of the forehead blackish ; a loral spot and a 

 small tuft of plumes on the side of the neck tvltite, the latter washed tvith orange ; all the under surface 

 aiul under tail-coverts white, with a patch of ultramarine on the sides of the fore-neck and breast, 

 extendin.g more toivards the centre of the body on the latter : " bill black ; legs and feet greyish-black ; 

 iris dark brown" (McLennan). 'J'otal length J^-J inches, n-ing 21, tail OOo, bill If tarsus O'Jo. 



Ai)l'l/r FKMALK — Similar in plumage to the mule. 



Distribution. — Northern Territory, (Queensland. 



^If^EMMINCK figured and described this species in his " Planches Coloriees," in 1836, the 

 -L type of which he states was obtained in New Guinea, its ultra-Australian range 

 extending also to the islands of Torres Strait, the Aru Islands, New Ireland, the Solomon Islands 

 and the Moluccas. In Australia it occurs in the coastal districts of the eastern parts of the 

 Northern Territory and of Northern and North-eastern Queensland. At Port Essington, in 

 the extreme northern portion of the Northern Territory, it is represented by a closely allied 

 tint distinct species, Aliyoiw raiiisayi. 



Alcyone pusilla hus been obtained by various collectors on the Cape York Peninsula, and 

 where, in 1911, Mr. W. McLennan succeeded in obtaining two sets of its eggs. Further south 

 the late Mr. Kendal Broadbent procured specimens at Cardwell, and Messrs. E. J. Cairn and 

 Robt. Grant shot several of these birds on the river about half a mile from Kamerunga, and 

 nine miles from Cairns. 



Mr. Kobt. Grant has handed me the following note: — " While collecting in company with 



Mr. E. J. Cairn in the vicinity of Cairns and Double Island, North-eastern Queensland, we 



found Alcyone pusilla in the mangroves at the mouths of the small fresh-water creeks, where they 



entered the sea. We also obtained three specimens on the margin of a fresh water lagoon, about 



111 



