1(). HALCYON. 263 



Sauropatis supei'ciliosa, Cab. Sf Heine, Mus. Heiii. Tb. ii. p. 158 

 (1860). 



Halcyon sacra, Finsch Sj- Hartl. Faun. Centrcdpohp}. p. .32 (1867) ; id. 

 P. Z. S. 1860, p. 545 (Tonga) ; Grmj, Hand-L B. i. p. 93, no. 1130 

 (1869) ; Sharpe, Monoyr. Alced. p. 223, pi. 85 (1870) ; Peh. Ibis, 

 1873, p. 19 (Otaheite ; type) ; Laijard, P. Z. S. 1875, p. 426 (Fiji) ; 

 id. Ibi.t, 1876, p. 391 (pt. : Ovalaii, Mokani, Vanua Levu, Taviuni, 

 Loma Loma, Mango, Viti Levu, Kandavu); id. f. c. p. 501 (Tonga) ; 

 Finsck, P. Z. S. 1876, p. 19 ; Cab. Sr Reichen. J. f. 0. 1876, 

 p. 323 (Levuka) ; Finsch, op. cit. 1877, p. 773 (Friendly Isl.) ; 

 Laijard, Ibis, 1878, p. 269, note ; North, Proc. Linn. Soc. N. S. W, 

 (2) ii, p. 441 (1887 : Ovalau, breeding). 



Adult. General colour above bright blue, slightly greenish on the 

 scapulars and mantle, but more brilliant on the wing-coverts, lower 

 back, rump, and upper tail-coverts ; the quills black, externally 

 ultramarine-blue ; tail-feathers ultramarine, blackish on the shafts 

 and along the inner web ; crown of head bright blue ; lores black, 

 surmounted by a band of white, which commences at the base of the 

 nostrils and completely surrounds the crown ; this white band is 

 followed by a second band of bright blue, which embraces the sides 

 of the face and ear-coverts and extends below the nape round the 

 hind neck ; this blue band is again followed by a broad white band 

 round the hind neck ; below the eye a white spot : cheeks and 

 under surface of body pure white, including the under wing-coverts 

 and axillaries ; quills blackish below, ashy towards the base of the 

 inner web. Total length 8-5 inches, culmen 1-9, wing 4-2, tail 2'3, 

 tarsus 0'6. 



In the Fiji Islands, but not, so far as I can find out, in Tongatabu, 

 the immature birds with rufous eyebrows have the sides of tlie body 

 and under wing-covorts orange-rufous. This character, however, 

 does not seem to be developed in equal extent in all specimens from 

 identical localities, and I have not been able to separate the Fiji 

 birds from the others from Tongatabu. 



The specimens with the cinnamon-coloured eyebrow are by far 

 the most plentiful in collections, but I believe that the fully adult 

 birds are those with the white eyebrow, though some of these may 

 have remains of immature plumage in the shape of blackish margins 

 to the feathers of the breast and cervical collar. The orange-buff 

 colour on the sides of the body is also probably a sign of imma- 

 turity, but I cannot yet quite accoirnt for all the changes of plumage 

 which H. sacrr apparently undergoes. 



Hub. Friendly and Fiji Islands. 



a. Ad.sk. Vavao, Friendly Islands, July. .J. Brencliley, Esq. [P,]. 



h. Ad. sk. Vavao {Lieut . Mnrraij). Jardine Coll. 



c, d, e. Ad. sk. Tongatabu. Sir E Home [P.l. 



(Types of H. suijerciliosa.) 

 f. Ad. sk. Tongatabu. ' Sir E. Home [P.]. 



g-h. Ad. sk. Tongatabu (/. Brenchley : Tweeddale Coll. 



Sharpe Coll.). 

 I, m. Ad. sk. Tongatabu, Nov. [Br. Cop- Voy. H.M.S. ' Alert.' 



pinr/er). 



