188 ALCEDINIDJE. 



Adult female. Similar to the male in colour. Total length 5-5 

 inches, culmen 1"45, wing 2*3, tail 0'85, tarsus OSo. 



The specimen from Leyte is more ultramarine on tlie breast than 

 those from Samar, which incline to purplish blue ; but Professor 

 Rteere unites the birds from the two islands, and thus the Leyte 

 specimen in the Museum may be immature, especially as it has the 

 throat and abdomen tinged with buff. This last character Prof. 

 Steere considers to be specific, but I feel sure that it is a sign of 

 immaturity. 



Bab. Islands of Samar and Leyte. 



a. S ad. sk. Samar, March .3L F. S. Bourns, Enq. [C.]. 



h. 5 ad. sk. Samar, March 28. D. C. Wurcester, Esq. [G.]. 



c. (S ad. sk. S. Leyte, Oct. (A. Everett). Tweeddale Coll. 



17. Ceyx gentiana. 



Ceyx gentiana, Trhtr. Urn, 1879, p. 438, pi. xi. ; id. Ibis, 1882, 

 p. 143; Jiamsai/, t. c. p. 345; liamsaij, Proc. Linn. Sue. N. S. 

 Wales, vii. p. 20 (1882) ; Sharpe in Goulds B. N. Guin. iv. pi. 46 

 (188G) ; Sahmd. Agg. Orn. Papuasia, i. p. 53 (1889). 



Adult female (type of species). Mantle and scapulars black, 

 ■washed with purplish blue, the feathers being mesially streaked with 

 dark cobalt ; entire back, rump, and upper tail-covcrts bright 

 silvery greenish cobalt, a little more purplish on the latter ; lesser, 

 median, and inner greater coverts black, tipped with purplish blue, 

 with a narrow mesial line of cobalt ; remainder of the greater 

 coverts, bastard-wing, primary-coverts, and quills black, slightly 

 shaded with purplish blue externally ; tail-feathers black, edged 

 with purplish blue ; crown of head black, all the feathers tipped 

 with purplish blue, each feather with a central line of brighter 

 cobalt ; the spots thicker on the nape and hind neck, which ajipear 

 almost entirely purplish blue ; lores and base of forehead black, 

 with a white loral spot ; feathers round eye, ear-coverts, and 

 cheeks black, the feathers mesially streaked with purplish blue ; 

 throat and under surface of body white, as also a longitudinal patch 

 on the sides of upper breast, with a patch of black feathers washed 

 with blue; Hanks with black streaks ; thighs blackish; under tail- 

 coverts white, tipped with purplish blue ; under wing- coverts 

 and axillaries white, with a black bar across the former; quills 

 below^ dusky, white along the edge of the inner web : " bill black ; 

 feet flesh-colour ; iris bluish-black " ((?. E. Richards). Total length 

 5-5 inches, culmen I'oo, wing 2-5o, tail 1"1, tarsus 0'45. {Mixs.H. 

 B. Tristram.) 



Bab. San Christoval, Solomon Islands. 



IS. Ceyx solitaria. 



Cevx neninting {nee Hursf.), Less. Voy. Coquille, i. pt. 2, p. 691 

 (182G) ; Pucher. liev. et Mag. de Zool. 18G1, p. 345. 



