BIRDS OF THE AMMBA ISLANDS. 23 



ALCEDO ISPIDA BENGALENSIS Gmelin. 



[Alcedo] bengalensis Gmelin, Syat. Nat., vol. 1, pt. 1, 1788, p. 450 (Bengal, India). 



One immature male, No. 174699, U.S.N.M., from Pulo Riabu, 

 August 22, 1900; length in flesh, 172 mm. Doctor Abbott reported 

 this species tolerably common on Pulo Jimaja, September 17-28, 

 1899; noted it on Pulo Siantan, August 19 to September 13, 1899; 

 and on Pulo Manguan, September 1-2, 1899. 



Although difference in size appears to be the only distinction 

 between Alcedo ispida ispida and Alcedo ispida bengalensis, the latter 

 is quite enough smaller to warrant its recognition. 



CEYX RUFIDORSUS RUFIDORSUS (Strickland).i 



Ceyx rufidorsa Strickland, Proc. Zool. Soc. Lond., 1846, p. 99 (Malacca). 



One adult male, No. 171073, U.S.N.M., from Pulo Jimaja, Sep- 

 tember 25, 1899. Length, 149 mm. "Iris dark brown; bill and 

 feet coral red. The only one seen; shot on a small creek in jungle; 

 stomach contained insects." 



According to the geographical lines that Doctor Hartert has drawn, 2 

 this bird should be true Ceyx rufidorsus rujidorsus, but it is very 

 small for that form, as the wing measures only 57 mm., and the 

 exposed culmen 33.5 mm. It is also paler below than specimens 

 from other localities usually are. Possibly further examples from 

 the Anamba Islands would show these differences to be subspecific. 



The Indo-Malayan region from Java and Borneo westward, 

 exclusive of most of the Philippine Islands, possesses the following 

 six forms of this beautiful genus: 



1 . Ceyx rufidorsus rujidorsus Strickland ( = Ceyx euerythra Sharpe ; 

 = Ceyx rufidorsa robusta Parrot, Abhandl. k. Bayer. Akad. Wiss., 

 II Kl., vol. 24, 1 Abth., 1907, p. 208). Southern Malay Peninsula, 

 Sumatra, Batu Islands, Linga Islands, Borneo, Labuan Island, 

 Natuna Islands, Anamba Islands, and the southwestern Philippine 

 Islands north and east to the islands of Mindoro and Sulu. 



2. Ceyx rufidorsus innominatus Salvadori. — Islands of Java, Banka, 

 Bali, Kangean, Lombok, Sumbawa, Flores, and Sumba. 



3. Ceyx dillwynni Sharpe (= Ceyx sharpei Salvadori). — Extreme 

 southern Malay Peninsula (only eastern side ?), Kateman Island, 

 Great Karimon Island, Nias Island (teste Salvadori), Borneo, Labuan 

 Island, and southwestern Philippine Islands (Palawan). 



4. Ceyx enopopygius Oberholser. — (Ceyx enopopygius Oberholser, 

 Smiths. Misc. Coll., vol. 60, No. 7, October 26, 1912, p. 7 [Aru Bay, 

 eastern Sumatra]). Eastern coast of Sumatra. 



5. Ceyx tridactylus tridactylus (Pallas). — Ceylon, southern India, 

 Nepal, and Lower Bengal; east to Bhutan, Assam, and the Burmese 



i As Doctor Hartert has shown (Novit. Zool., vol. 9, 1902, p. 431), the generic term Ceyx is of masculine, 

 not feminine gender as commonly considered. 

 2 Novit. Zool., vol. 9, 1902, pp. 430-431. 



