HALCYONES. 175 



dadi in January (SAvinlioe, Ibis, 1875, p. 449), and there are three 

 in the Pryer collection from Yokohama. The example figured 

 in the * Fauna Japonica ' as Alcedo lugubris was probably obtained 

 by Dr. Siebold at Nagasaki. 



On Tate-yama it is found in the wildest mountain-streams and 

 gorges and is exceedingly wary (Jouy, Proc. United States Nat. Mus. 

 1883, p. 310). 



The range of the Oriental Spotted Kingfisher extends from Japan 

 across China, Burma, and the Himalayan valleys as far west as 

 Cashmere. As this species is not found in Siberia, nor in Formosa 

 or the Philippine Islands, it is fair to assume that it reached Japan 

 across China. In the Swinhoe collection there is an example from 

 Ningpo, and TAbbe David records it from various localities in 

 Central China. In the Christiania Museum there is an example 

 collected by Herr Baun at Puching in North Fokien. 



156. ALCEDO ISPIDA. 

 (COMMON KINGFISHER.) 



Alcedo ispida, Linneus, Syst. Nat. i. p. 179 (1766). 



Japanese examples of the Common Kingfisher vary in length of 

 wing from 2'8 to 3*0 inches, and in length of bill from 1*2 to 1'5 

 inches, and may be regarded as belonging to the Eastern race Alcedo 

 ispida bengalensis. 



Figures : Temminck and Schlegel, Fauna Japonica, Aves, pi. 38. 



The Eastern form of the Common Kingfisher is generally distri- 

 buted throughout the Japanese Islands. It is a summer visitor to 

 Eturop (the most southerly of the Kurile Islands) and to Yezzo 

 (Blakiston and Pryer, Trans. As. Soc. Japan, 1882, p. 136), but 

 further south it is a resident. There is an example in the Swinhoe 

 collection from Hakodadi (Swinhoe, Ibis, 1874, p. 152) ; there are 

 eight examples in the Pryer collection from Yokohama, and Mr. 

 Ringer has obtained it at Nagasaki. Capt. Rodgers procured it from 

 the Loo-Choo Islands (Cassiu, Proc. Acad. Nat. Sc. Philad. 1862, 

 p. 318), and there are two examples in the Pryer collection from the 

 central group of those islands (Seebohm, Ibis, 1887, p. 176). 



Few species having so wide a range, and being migratory in so 

 few localities, vary less than the Common Kingfisher. In the 



