( 99 ) 

 GREAT SPOTTED KINGFISHER. 



CERYLE LUGUBRIS GUTTULATA STEJ. 

 [Ceryle lugubris rTemm.)] 



Description. — Length 16 inches. 



Bill black, greenish at the base. Legs 

 and feet olive green. Iris dark brown. 



'Thehead is crested, the crestfeathers 

 being black with white spots, and there 

 is a tuft of white feathers in the center 

 of the crown, while the rest of the 

 upper surface is barred with grey and 

 white. Round the hind neck runs a 

 broad white collar. The under surface 

 of the body is white. A long spot on 

 each cheek and a band across the breast 

 are rufous with black spots. The sides 

 of the body are white, barred greyish 

 black. The under wing coverts and 

 axillaries are white. 



' The female is like the male, but does 

 not have the rufous on the cheeks and 

 breast band. The under wing coverts 

 and axillaries are pale rufous, thus 

 showing the sexual differences which are 

 one of the characteristics of the genus.' 



Distribution. — Japan and China. 

 Resident, thought not common, in the 

 Yangtse Valley. It is frequently found 

 around the mountain streams and pools. 



Nest and Eggs. — Hume thus describes 

 a nest of this bird : — " The entrance 

 to the nest was a large hole, fully 

 four inches in diameter, and at the 

 end was a chamber fully ten inches 

 across, in which were four young 

 birds ; in the chamber was a quantity 

 of fish bones and some grass. The eggs 

 are usually three or four in number 

 and the birds are in the habit of 

 carrying to their young fishes from 

 six to seven inches in length, and these 

 are always swallowed whole." 



