PICARIAN BIRDS AND PARROTS OF CEYLON. 225 
PELARGOPSIS GURIAL (Blanford, Vol. III., p. 129; 
Legge, p. 295). 
The Brown-headed Stork-billed Kingfisher. 
Description.—Head, face, hind-neck, and ear coverts dull 
brown ; a collar round the back of the neck, together with the 
whole of the lower plumage, orange-buff, deepest on the 
flanks and abdomen, and palest on the chin and throat ; 
upper back and scapulars with the lesser wing coverts dull 
bluish-green ; the greater wing coverts, the tertiaries, the 
outer webs and tips of the secondaries, the larger tail coverts, 
and tail slightly bluer ; the primary quills, the inner webs of 
the secondaries, and the under surface of the tail dull brown ; 
the lower back, rump, and lesser tail coverts bright turquoise 
blue. 
In the young birds the buff feathers on the collar and breast 
have darker edges. 
Bill dark blood red ; iris brown; legs and feet coral red. 
Length about 15; wing 5°75-6°25; tail about 4; tarsus 
°75 ; bill from gape 3°75. 
Distribution.—Occurs more or less all over Ceylon on rivers, 
streams, brackish lagoons, and tanks. Commonest in the 
northern half of the Island. It is found throughout the 
Indian Empire, and extends southward and eastward to 
Malaya and Cochin-China. Some authorities differentiate 
the Burmese race as a sub-species, P. burmanicus. 
Habits, &c.—Our largest Kingfisher. It is always found 
“near water, generally in the neighbourhood of large trees, 
or, on lagoons, among the mangrove swamps. The cry is a 
loud, harsh laugh. It feeds on frogs, fish, and crabs. The 
flight is straight and powerful. The usual nest hole is 
made in the sandy banks of rivers and streams, generally in 
dense jungle, or in the bund of a lonely tank. It appears to 
be always made in a bank well covered with bushes, at least 
in the immediate vicinity of the nest. The eggs are typical 
Kingfisher’s eggs in shape and texture, and measure about 
1°50 by 1°18, 
