INSESSORES. 127 



the former broadly tipped with white ; irides greenish white ; 

 upper mandible blackish brown, the cutting edges greenish 

 white ; lower mandible greenish white, the base dark brown 

 on the sides, and blue on the under surface ; tarsi and feet 

 emerald green ; claws black. 



The female has the feathers of the head, cheeks, and ear- 

 coverts buffy white, with a central stripe of dark brown ; 

 throat white ; back of the neck, chest, and all the under sur- 

 face sienna-yellow ; the chest, flanks, and abdomen crossed by 

 fine zigzag lines of brown ; upper part of the back and scapu- 

 laries umber-brown ; primaries blackish brown at the tip and 

 white at the base ; the basal portion of their external webs, 

 the secondaries, and the spurious wing rich china blue ; greater 

 and lesser wing-coverts and upper tail-coverts light shining 

 blue ; tail and the longest of the upper coverts rich chestnut- 

 brown, which passes into buff at the tip, the whole trans- 

 versely marked with eight or nine bands of rich blue-black. 



Genus TODIRHAMPHUS, Lesson. 



The members of this genus are more numerous and more 

 vifidely dispersed than the Bacelm. The range of the various 

 species extends from Asia, through the Indian Islands, to 

 Australia ; but I believe no one of them has yet been found 

 in Africa. In making this statement, I wish it to be under- 

 stood I do not intend to say that there are no Kingfishers in 

 that country ; on the contrary, they are very numerous there, 

 but not of this particular form. Some of them bear a very 

 general resemblance to it, and one of these is the type of the 

 genus Halcyon, in which the Australian Todirhamphi have 

 hitherto been placed. In their habits and mode of life the 

 Todirhamphi resemble the Bacelce, and must have the power, 

 like those birds, of sustaining themselves for a long time 

 without water, since they are frequently found in the driest 

 parts of the country. 



