352 PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL MUSEUM. vol.55. 



done by Mr, G. M. Mathews^ and the writer.^ Its proper generic 

 name will therefore become Sauropatis Cabanis and Heine,^ of 

 which the type is Halcyon, sanctus ^'igors and Horsfield, by subse- 

 quent designation of Sharpe.* This genus differs from Halcyon 

 Swainson (type, Alcedo senegalensis Linnaeus) in having the cul- 

 men practicall}' straight instead of convex; the comiriissiire curved 

 downwards; the gonys convex instead of practically straight; and 

 the first primarily (counting from the outermost) nearly as long as 

 the second and third which are about the same length, and the 

 longest reaching very much beyond the fifth and sixth, instead of 

 being much shorter. 



From the genus Entomothera Horsfield (type, Alcedo corornanda 

 Latham), Saurofatis may be distinguished by relatively longer 

 wings; wider, more oval (less linear) and more exposed nostrils; 

 and by the relative lengths of the primaries as from Halcyon. 



In the genus Sauropatis., then, Sauropatis chloris (Boddaert) be- 

 longs to a group of rather closely allied species, which includes, 

 among others, Sauropatis sancta (Vigors and Horsfield), Sauro- 

 patis occipitalis (Blyth), Sauropatis sacra (Gmelin), and Sauro- 

 patis owstoni^ (Rothschild), which last, indeed, may prove to be 

 a subspecies of Sauropatis cMoris. 



With Saurojyatis chloris are included a considerable number of 

 forms, some of which have been treated as subspecies, some as dis- 

 tinct species. They present a difficult problem, one of the most 

 difficult in the family Alcedinidae, as all who have studied them are 

 doubtless prepared to admit, chiefly because of the great amount of 

 variation, sexual, seasonal, and, individual, in both size and color. 

 This variation has been hitherto too little understood or allowed for, 

 and considerable confusion as well as some useless sj^nonyms have 

 been the result. A good series nmst be had finally to establish the 

 characters of the forms, for comparisons need to be made with birds 

 of the same sex, age, and condition of plumage. These characters 

 are, in this species, principally in the dimensions of bill, wing, tail, 

 and tarsus; the width and conspicuousness of the blackish nuchal 

 band ; the presence or absence of buffy suffusion on the white cervical 

 collar and under parts; the bluish, greenish, or brownish colors of 

 the upper parts, including the wings; the presence or absence of a 

 superciliary stripe; the size of the white concealed occipital patch, 

 and of the light supra-loral spot. 



These differences between the various forms of Halcyon chloris are 

 in most instances not more than average, and even in those races that 



1 Austral Ayian Record, vol. 1, No. 5, Dec. 24, 1912, pp. 108-109. 



» Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus., vol. 52, Feb. 8, 1917, p. 189. 



s Mus. Hein., pt. 2, January, 1860, p. 158. 



* Mon. Alced., vol. 1. 1871, Introrluction. 



"Bull. Brit. Ornlth. Club, vol. 15, No. CIX, Nov. 1, 1904, p. 6 (Marianne Islands). 



