THE BIRDS OF NORTHERN THAILAND 203 



terior of the mouth orange ; the tarsi brownish red in front, coral-red 

 behind; the toes brownish red; the soles coral-red; the claws black. 



The adult has the crown, nape, and sides of the head chocolate- 

 brown; the lesser wing coverts chocolate-brown, the median ones 

 black; the rest of the wing blue or greenish blue, with a white bar 

 visible when the wing is outspread; the center of the back, the rump, 

 and the upper tail coverts shining blue; the remaining upperparts 

 blue or greenish blue; the chin, throat, center of breast and upper 

 abdomen white; the remaining underparts chocolate-brown. The 

 immature is similar but has very narrow dark edgings to the white 

 feathers of the breast. 



Whistler and Kinnear have shown ( Journ. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc, 

 vol. 37, 1935, pp. 761-762) that the name fusca must be restricted to 

 the birds of Ceylon and the western side of the Madras Presidency in 

 the rain-area from Coorg to Cape Comorin. They believe that the 

 white-breasted kingfishers of all other parts of India, Burma, and 

 the countries farther east, although alike in color, may be divisible 

 on size into a northern and a southern race. For such races, the names 

 fohiensis (Fuhkien) and perpulchra (Singapore) are respectively 

 available, but so great is the variation in size in any given locality that 

 it seems improbable that both forms can be maintained. In any case, 

 northern Thai birds, with wing length 117-120 mm., cannot be sep- 

 arated from a Malayan series with wing length 115-122 mm. (one 

 specimen from Singapore, 117 mm.). 



HALCYON PILEATA (Boddaert) 



Black-capped Kingfisher 



Alcedo pileata Boddaekt, Table des planches eniumineez d'histoire naturelle, 



1783, p. 41 (China, ex D'Aubenton, pi. 673). 

 Halcyon pileata, Gtldenstoipe, Kungl. Svenska Vet.-Akad. Handl., 1913, p. 55 



(Mae Raem river) ; Journ. Nat. Hist. Soc. Siam, 1915, p. 231 (listed) ; Ibis, 



1C20, p. 589 ("Throughout Siam"). 



The black-capped kingfisher, so common and familiar a bird in 

 Bangkok, is, in the northern provinces, a rare and local species. Eis- 

 enhof er sent to Hannover a specimen taken at Pha Hing, April 26, 1912, 

 and to Stockholm seven collected in 1914 at Khun Tan. Gyldenstolpe 

 took a single example on the Mae Raem, March 11, 1912. At Chiang 

 Mai I have seen it only twice, October 8 and 23, 1936 ; the bird of the 

 latter date was collected. I have also found it on the Mae Ping below 

 Muang Chiang Dao, on a stream between Chiang Mai and Wiang Pa 

 Pao, and in the Mae Yom basin a few miles northwest of Ban Bong 

 Kwang. 



In the North, this beautiful bird avoids the haunts of man and may 

 be expected to occur only in the wildest places. With the exception 



583136—45 14 



