300 ALCEDINIT).?5. 



coverts white ; under wing-coverts and axillaries like the breast, 

 but paler ; quills dusky below, ashy along the inner web : " bill 

 red ; feet brown ; iris light brown " (Z. C. Layard). Total length 

 10-5 inches, culmen 1-5, wing 3"7, tail 3'3, centre tail-feathers 5-6, 

 tarsus 0"65. 



Hab. Duke of York Island. 



a. Ad. sk. Duke of York Island, Oct. {Rev. Tweeddale Coll. 



G. Brown). (Tj'P*^ of species.) 



6. $ ad. sk. Duke of York Island, July 17. L. C. Layard, Esq. 



[C.J. 



4. Tanysiptera sylvia. 



Tanysiptera sylvia, Gould, P. Z. S. 1850, p. 200 ; id. B. Austr. 

 Suppl. pi. (1851) ; Rekhenh. Hcmdb., Alced. p. 43, Taf. 307. 

 figs. 3095-96 (1851) ; Gray, P. Z. S. 1858, p. 190, 1860, p. 347, 

 1861, p. 433 ; Wall. P. Z. S. 1863, p. 24 ; Gotdd, Handb. B. Au.sfr. 

 i. p. 137 (1865) ; Ramsay, Ibis, 1865, p. 325 ; id. P. Z. S. 1868, 

 p. 383; Gray, Hand-l. B.\. p. 90, no. 1076 (1869); Sharpe, 

 Monogr. Alced. p. 289, pi. 100 (1869) ; Diggles, Orn. Austr. pi. 27 

 (1870); Ramsay, Proc. Linn. Soc. N. S. W. ii. p. 179 (1878). 



Uralcyou sylvia, Hei^ie, J.f. O. 1879, p. 406. 



Dacelo sylvia, ScM. Mus. Pays-Bas, Alced. p. 47 (1863) ; id. Alced. 

 Revue, p. 42 (1874). 



Adult male. Crown of head deep ultramarine-blue, encircled by 

 a band of brighter blue, which forms an eyebrow and encircles the 

 nape ; lores, sides of face, sides of neck, mantle, and upper back 

 black, the latter with a large patch of white ; scapulars, wing- 

 coverts, and outer aspect of quills rich ultramarine-blue, the latter 

 blackish on the inner web and towards the end ; lower back, rump, 

 and upper tail-coverts pure white, the sides of the rump black : two 

 centre tail-feathers white, the remainder blue, dusky blackish on 

 the inner webs of all but those nearest the two centre feathers, 

 which are edged with white on their web ; cheeks and under 

 surface of body rich cinnamon-colour, the throat and under wing- 

 coverts and axillaries slightly paler ; quills blackish below, ochreous 

 along the inner webs : " bill and feet sealing-wax red " (/. Mac- 

 gillivraTj). Total length 13 inches, culmen 1-3, wing 3'8, tail 2-9, 

 centre taU-feathers 9, tarsus 0-5. 



Adidt female. Similar to the male, but having the spot on the 

 back tinged with buff, and the white centre tail-feathers blue on 

 the outer web. The tail also is not so long as in the male. Total 

 length 9-6 inches, culmen 1-25, wing 3-6, tail 2-2, longest feather 

 5"2, tarsus 0"55. 



Young. Everywhere much paler than the adult, with a dusky 

 bUl ; the crown black, with duU blue tips to the feathers, surrounded 

 by a baud of light blue ; mantle and upper back black, the latter 

 with a patch of pale ochreous bufP ; scapulars, wing-coverts, and 

 quills dusky blackish, tipped with ochreous buff, but showing very 

 little blue ; lower back, rump, and upper tail-coverts white, the 



