30 ON BIRDS FROM THE ANDAMANS. [18GC. 



From the Andamans. 



1. Halcyon CAPEXSis (Linn.). 



Akedo capensis, Linn. S. N. ed. 12, i. p. 180. no. (1766). 



Ispida capitis bonce spei, Briss. Orn. iv. p. 488. no. 8. 



No. 3. Port Blair, Andamans. 



If we resolve to regard all the local races of this Kingfisher, or any of them, as constituting 

 so many distinct species, we must dissever the A. capensis, Linn., from the A. leucocephalus, Gm. 

 Of the Linna?an species we possess a detailed description in Brisson's ' Ornithologia;' and with it 

 this Andaman specimen very nearly agrees. The upper part of the head is " cinereous inclining 

 to fulvous," and forms a distinct cap. Dr. Jerdon observes, when writing on the Indian form, 

 that specimens from the east, and ospe(;ially from Tcnasserim, have the cap " albescent or dirty 

 brown." Its blues are not pure, but greenish as in Brisson's type. A. leucocephalus, Gm., 

 founded on BufFon's 757th plate, represents the form in which the occipital plumage is uniform 

 with that of the neck, nape, and under surface, the cap being therefore absent, and in which the 

 blues are pure, rich, and brilliant. A Sarawak specimen in my collection fully answers to 

 Buffon's account and ])late, even to the brown striae of the occiput, this appearance being the 

 result of each feather ha\-ing a dark brown centre at its base, and being but narrowly edged with 

 fulvous. When these feathers normally overlap one another, the occiput appears of a colour 

 uniform with the nape, the brown centre of each feather being invisible ; but if any of them are 

 disarranged the occiput puts on the appearance shown in BufFon's plate. Thus A. capensis, Linn., 

 forms the type of all the races with a coronal patch, and A. leucocep>halns, Gm., of those in which 

 the cap is wanting. To the first belong the Ilindostan and Ceylon birds, the Bengal race having 

 been accurately described by Captain Pearson (J. A. S. B. IS-il, p. GS-S) under the name of 

 //. guriul ; and if all the Indian specimens are, as Dr. Jerdon states, uniformly brown on the 

 head, Pearson's name must be applied to them. A Flores specimen in my collection has the 

 head and crest dark brown, as in Ceylon specimens of mine. But while in the Ceylon bird, 

 which seems to be identical with //. r/urial, Pears., the scapulars and wing-coverts are dingy 

 greenish blue, in the Flores bird the blue is intense and perfectly pure, as in the Sarawak 

 specimen. The variations of this widely extended form have yet to be studied. Dr. Cabanis 

 observes (Museum Heineanum, i. p. 156) that every degree of variation is to be found in a series 

 of specimens of this species ; but he does not mention whether he was certain of tlie localities 

 from which each specimen came. My experience of the form is the same as that of the learned 

 P.Z.S. 1806, doctor, but with this addition, that the varieties are coincident with changes of locality, but are 

 P- '^^■^- never found occurring in specimens from one and the same locality. 



2. Halcyon smyrnensis (Linn.). 



Alcedo smyrnensis, Linn. S. N. ed. 12, i. p. 181. no. 11 (1766). 



Nos. 9, 12. Port Blair, Andamans. 



No. specimen has the bill half an inch shorter than that of no. 12, and yet does not 

 exhibit any traces of adolescent plumage. The bill of no. 12 specimen is much stouter and 

 longer than that of any one of a large series of Ceylon, Camboja, and Central ludiiiu specimens; 



