HALCYON CHELICUTENSIS. 117 
Baron Von der Decken procured specimens. Curiously enough, it 
has recently been shot on the Loango Coast in Western Africa, by 
the German Exploring Expedition. 
Adult male.—Head light brown, striped with dark brown along the 
shaft of each feather ; rump and upper tail-coverts bright blue ; quills 
light brown, the inner web pale orange at the base, the outer web 
edged with bright blue, more especially on the secondaries ; tail 
greenish blue above, blackish beneath; a loral spot produced back- 
wards over the eye, sides of and a collar round the neck, and the 
entire under surface white, inclining to fulvous on the flanks, and 
purest on the throat and upper part of the breast; bill dusky-ver- 
milion ; feet orange. Total length, 8°5 inches; of bill from front, 
165; from gape, 2°2; wing, 40; tail, 2°4; tarsus, 0°5; middle toe, 
07; hind toe, 0°35. 
Fig. Sharpe, Monogr. Alced. pl. 66. 
111. Hatcyon cuexicurensis. Striped Kingfisher. 
Halycon striolata, Layard, B. 8. Afr. p. 64. 
This is a small species of the same peculiar African group as the 
two preceding ones. It has a red beak and a striped head, but it has 
the scapulars brown at all ages, and is further distinguished from 
them by its smaller size. This Kingfisher is found all over the von- 
tinent, but South African specimens are always larger than those 
from North Eastern or Western Africa: we do not, however, consider 
them specifically distinct. 
The late Mr. Jules Verreaux states that “it is everywhere common 
near Kurrichaine, Latakoo, and the Vaal River, and is also met with 
commonly in Natal.” If the species was plentiful in the latter 
country at the time of the writer’s sojourn in South Africa, it can- 
not be said to be so now, for Mr. Ayres has never met with it there, 
nor did it occur to Captain Shelley during his recent visit to the 
colony. Mr. Ayres has, however, procured it on the Limpopo, and 
Mr, T. E. Buckley shot a male bird in the Transvaal, in July, 1873. 
Tn the Zambesi region, Dr. Kirk informs us that it is widely distri- 
buted, being equally common on the sea coast among the mangroves, 
and near the rivers far in the interior as well as in the plains. Mr. 
Andersson writes :—‘‘ This Kingfisher is very sparingly met with in 
Damara Land and the parts adjacent to the northward ; it is partial 
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