I 



16. HALCTON. 2i5 



Subsp. a. Halcyon cyanoleucus. 



Martin pecheur a ventre sable, Temm. Cat. Syst. p. 215 (1807). 



Alcedo cyanoleuca, Vieill. N. Diet, d'llist. Nat. xix. p. 401 (1818: 

 Angola) ; Bonn, et Vieill. Enc. Meth. i. p. 394 (1823). 



Halcyon cyanoleuca, Hartl. Contr. Orn. 1849, p. 20 ; id. Orn. IV.- 

 Afr. p. 31 (1857) ; Gurney, Ibis, 1868, p. 265 (Mouocusi R.) ; 

 Sharpe, P. Z. S. 1869, p. 568 (Angola) ; id. Ibis, 1869, p. 282 ; 

 id. Moyiogv. Alced. p. 189, pi. 69 (1869) ; id. Ibis, 1870, p. 484 

 (Fantee); id. P. Z. S. 1871, p. 603 (Cameroons) ; Gurney in 

 Anderss. B. Dam.-Ld. p. 56 (1872) ; Shel/ey .S" BucMey, Ibis, 1872, 

 p. 286 (Fantee) ; Buckley, Ibis, 1874, p. 365 (Limpopo) ; Sharpe, 

 ed. Layard's B. S. Afr. pp. 120, 808 (1875-84); Bocaye, Orn. 

 Anyola,-^. 100 (1877) ; Sharpe in Oafe.ss Matiihele-Zd.,A\)]). Bird,-<, 

 p. 303 (1881 : Xata Eiyer) ; Biittih. Notes Lei/den Mus. vii. p. 162 

 (1885: S. Paul's River); id. op. cit. xi. p. (37 (1889: Gambos) ; 

 Shelley, Ibis, 1890, p. 167 (Aruwhimi River) ; Sharpe in Jameson's 

 Hist. Rear Column, p. 400 (1890). 



Cancropbaga cyanoleuca, Bp. Consp. Vol. Anis. p. 9 (1854). 



Halcyon senegaleneis {72ec L.), Mont. P. Z. S. 1865, p. 94 (Ben- 

 guela) ; Gurney, Ibis, 1865, p. 265 (Monocusi R.) ; Lai/ard, B. S. 

 Afr. p. 62 (1867) ; Blanf. Geol. ^' Zool. Abyss, p. 323 (1870) ; 

 Holub S,- Pelz. Beifr. Orn. Sildafr. p. 62 (1882). 



Adult male. Similar to H. senegalensls, but having the whole 

 head and mantle light greenish blue like the rest of the back ; sides 

 of the face also washed with the same light blue, and a faint shade 

 of the same colour overspreading the breast, sides of body, and 

 especially the under tail-coverts ; the white eyebrow very dis- 

 tinct : " the upper mandible red, and the lower black ; tarsi and 

 feet black ; iris dusky " {T. Ayres). Total length 8-5 inches, 

 culmen 1-95, wing 4"6, tail 2-5, tarsus 0"5. 



The distinctness of this species from H. senegalensis still remains 

 one of those points on which I am not satisfied. In specimens from 

 Gaboon and the adjoining countries, such as the Niger district, 

 as far as Lagos, and probably Fantee, the crown in H. senegalensis 

 is very much darker brown than in specimens from other parts of 

 Africa. Sometimes the head of H. senegalensis is very pale ashy 

 brown, and it is difficult to separate these examples from //. 

 cyanoleucus ; while the fact that both forms occur side by side over 

 nearly the whole extent of Africa, is another puzzling factor in the 

 question. I have not been able, however, to determine that 

 //. cyanoleucus can be considered a stage of plumage of //. senegal- 

 ensis, or vice versa ; and it must also be borne in mind that onhf 

 If. cyanoleucus occurs in the southern part of the Ethiopian region, 

 II, senegalensis not occurring below Benguela. 



Hah. The greater part of Africa. 



a. Ad. sk. Ashantee. Godfrey Lagden, 



Esq.' [P.]. 



b, c. Ad. sk. Gold Coast (Aubinn), Shelley CoU. 



d. Ad. sk. Deukera, Jan. (Blissett). Sharpe Coll. 



e. Ad. sk. Ancobra River. Sir Richard Bm-ton 



and Commander 

 Cameron [P.], 



