INSESSOllES. 135 



upper tail-coverts pale verditer green instead of blue ; upper 

 mandible black ; lower mandible halfway from the tip and 

 along the whole of the cutting edges black, the remainder 

 being fleshy white tinged with blue where it joins the black ; 

 legs and feet greenish grey. 



The young male resembles the female in colour, but is still 

 less brilUant ; has the back of a purer green ; the under sur- 

 face tinged with buff; the spot on the lores deep buff"; and 

 the collar at the back of a deep buff, interrupted by some of 

 the feathers of the occiput. 



Genus SYMA, Lesson. 



The S. Torotoro of New Guinea and the 8. fiavirostris of 

 Northern Australia are the only species of this form that have 

 yet been discovered. The serrated edges of the mandibles 

 indicate that they feed on some peculiar kind of food, and it 

 would be interesting to know what special service the serra- 

 tions are intended to perform. 



Sp. 67. SYMA FLAVIROSTRIS, Gould. 



Yellow-billed Kingfisher. 



Halcyon (Syma?) fiavirostris, Gould in Proc. of Zool. Soc, part xviii. 

 1850, p. 200. 



Halcyon fiavirostris, Gould, Birds of Australia, foL, Supplement, 

 pi. . 



This species might easily be mistaken for the Sj/ma Toro- 

 toro; but there can be little doubt of its being distinct and new 

 to science : its lesser size, less brilliant colouring, the yellow 

 instead of orange hue of the bill, and the smaller size of the 

 serrations of the mandibles, are some of the characters by 

 which it may be distinguished from the New Guinea species. 



It was in that rich district the peninsula of Cape York, 

 which appears to have a fauna peculiar to itself, that the pre- 



