SYMA. 357 



at the bottom. The nest contained five eggs, three of which were unfortunately broken." The 

 two remaining eggs are similar to those of ^/ryi)//;; asima, being rounded in form, pearly white, 

 the shell being close-grained, smooth and glossy. Length (A) 0-87 x 073 inches ; (B) 0-85 x 

 o'74 inches. 



An egg taken from a hole in a bank of the Daly River, in the Northern Territory of South 

 Australia, in April 1902, is rounded in form and glossy pearly-white. Length 0-85 x 07 inches. 



Sub-family DACELONIN^. 



Ca-enVLS S"5r3yE.A., Lesson. 



Syma flavirostris. 



YELLOW- BILI,E 11 KIN(iFISHEK. 

 Halc^iou ( Syma? ) _liaviruslris, Ciould, Proc. Zool. Soc, 1850, p. 200. 

 Halcyon flavirostris, Gould, Bds. Austr., Suppl. fol. Vol., pi. .5 (1869). 



Syma flavirostris, Gould, Handbk. Bds. Austr., Vol. I., p. 135 (1865); Sharpe, Mnn. Alced., p. 153, 

 pi. 56 (1869). 



Adult male — Head and hind neck rich cinnamon-riiflous ; a spot in front of the eye and a broken 

 collar on the hind neck black; mantle blackish; scapulars and upper wing-coverts dull olive-green; quills 

 blackish, the outer webs of the secondaries washed with dull olive-green; rump and upper tail-coverts 

 greenish-blue; tail blue: throat and all the under surface and under tail-coverts pale cinnamon-rufous, 

 lighter on the throat and abdomen, darker on the sides of the breast and flanks; bill yellow, rvith a 

 dark brown mark along little more than the apical half of the cnlmen; legs and feet orange. Total 

 length. T'o incites, rving 3, tail 3'S, bill 1-25, tarsus 55. 



Adult female — Differs from the male in having the streak on each side of the neck slightly more 

 pronounced, the under siirface paler, and the crown of the head black. 



Distribution — Cape York Peninsula, North-eastern Queensland. 



T^®T O Australian Kingfisher is more restricted in its habitat than the present species, being 

 _L aL exclusively confined to the Cape York Peninsula of North-eastern Queensland, and 

 does not occur in the Northern Territory of South Australia, or in any other portion of the 

 Australian Continent. The type was obtained by MacGillivray, during the stay of H.M.S. 

 " Rattlesnake " at Cape York, and was described by Gould in the " Proceedings of the Zoological 

 Society of London," in 1850. 



In his " Monograph of the Alcedinida?," ■■ Dr. R. Bowdler Sharpe correctly figures, describes 

 and points out the distinguishing specific characters between Syma flavirostris and its close ally 

 S. tovotoro, inhabiting New Guinea. In the " Catalogue of Birds in the Britisli Museum," f 

 however. Dr. Sharpe, both in his key to the species and in the full description of each, unfortunately 

 transposes the distinguishing characters respectively. In a number of specimens of Syma tovotoro 

 and .S. flavirostris now before me, the former of which were obtained by the late Mr. Alexander 

 Morton near the Laloki River, New Guinea, in 1878, on behalf of the Trustees of the .Australian 

 Museum, the distinguishing characters pointed out by Gould when describing .S. flavirostris, are 

 constant in both species. 



While at Somerset, Cape York, in 1867-8, the late Mr. J. A. Thorpe informed me that he 



procured a number of specimens of S. flavirostris, and that this species chiefly frequented the dry 



open belts of timber inland, and was seldom met with in the dense coastal scrubs. Only on one 



occasion did he find its nesting place ; it was in the cavity left by a broken-ofT hollow limb of a 



♦ Mon. Alced., p. 153, pi. 56 (1869). f Cat. Bds. Brit. Mus., Vol. XVIL, p. 196 (1892). 



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