KINGFISHER 487 



there seems to be at least some ground for believing that a nearer 

 alliance is to be found in the Galhilidx (Jacamar), Momotidai 

 (Motmot), Meropidx (Bee-eater), and perhaps some other Families 

 — though all may possibly be discovered to belong to one and 

 the same larger group. Be that as it may, the present Family 

 forms the subject of a work by Dr. Sharpe,^ which, though wholly 

 incomplete as regards their anatomy,^ is certainly one of the best 

 of its class, and reflects infinite credit on its then youthful author, 

 whose treatment of his subject was most successful. Herein are 

 described 12.5 species, nearly all of them being beautifully figured 

 by Mr. Keulemans, and that number may be taken even now as 

 approximately correct ; for, while the validity of a few has been 

 denied, nearly as many have since been made known, and it seems 

 likely that two or three more described by older writers may yet 

 be rediscovered. These 125 species Dr. Sharpe groups in 19 

 genera, and divides into 2 subfamilies, Alcedininai and Daceloninx,^ 

 the one containing 5 and the other 1 4 genera, the largest being ■ 

 Halcyon with 36 species ranging from Asia Minor to Japan, and. from 



■^it--- 



ALCEDO. (^ter Swainson.) Halcyon. 



the Cape Verd Islands to New Zealand. With the then existing 

 materials perhaps no better arrangement could have been made, 

 but in the absence of anatomical knowledge it is certainly not to be 

 deemed conclusive, and indeed the method since published by 

 Sundevall {Tentamen, pp. 95, 96) diff"ers from it not inconsiderably, 

 Here, however, it will be convenient to follow that of Dr. Sharpe. 

 Externally, which is almost all we can at present say. Kingfishers 

 present a great uniformity of structure. One of their most remark- 

 able features is the feebleness of their feet, and the union ( Synda c- C-Z^^/ivW*^ 

 tylism) of the third and fourth digits for the greater part of their ^ {J 

 length ; while, as if still further to shew the comparatively function- 

 less character of these members, in two of the genera, Alcyone and 



^ A 3£onograph of the Alcedinidse or Family of the Kingfishers, by R. 13. 

 Sharpe, 4to. London : 1868-71. 



^ Some important anatomical points are briefly noticed by Prof. Cunningham 

 {Proc. Zool. Soc. 1870, p. 280). 



'^ The name of this latter subfamily as constituted by Dr. Sharpe would 

 seem to be more correctly Ccycinsc — the genus Ceyx, founded in 1801 by Lace- 

 pede, being the oldest included in it. The word Dacelo, invented by Leach in 

 1815, is simply an anagram of Alcedo, and, though of course without any 

 etymological meaning, has been very generally adopted. 



