ALCYONE. 309 
much more rare. It is to be found along the banks of small fresh-water 
streams, which it is extremely loath to leave. In Sibuyan one specimen 
was seen in a mangrove swamp. We never met with it away from water. 
Legs, feet, and nails scarlet; upper mandible black, lower red; food (in 
one case) fish. 
“Hight males average, 138 in length; wing, 58; tail, 22; culmen, 39; 
tarsus, 9; middle toe with claw, 17. Seven females average, 142 in length ; 
wing, 60; tail, 22; tarsus, 9; middle toe with claw, 17; culmen, 39.” 
(Bourns and Worcester MS.) . 
272. ALCYONE ARGENTATA (Tweeddale). 
SILVERY KINGFISHER. 
Ceyx argentata TWEEDDALE, Ann. & Mag. Nat. Hist. (1877), 20, (4), 533; 
Proc. Zool. Soc. (1878), pl. 6, 108; SHARPE, Cat. Birds Brit. Mus. 
(1892), 17, 187; Hand-List (1900), 2, 53. 
Aleyone argentata McGrecor and Worcester, Hand-List (1906), 52. 
Basilan (Bourns & Worcester) ; Dinagat (Hverett) ; Mindanao (Hveret!, Koch 
€& Schadenberg, Steere Exp., Bourns & Worcester, Goodfellow, Celestino) . 
Adult.—Sexes similar ;. upper parts, wings, and sides of head black; 
bases of loral feathers white; sides of crown from above eyes to nape with 
small white spots; back, rump, and upper tail-coverts white, resulting 
from the wide tips to the feathers; white tip of each feather preceded 
by a light blue bar which is more or less concealed; a large white patch 
on each side of neck; chin, throat, and fore breast pure white, forming 
a well-defined patch; thighs and middle of abdomen white; remainder of 
under parts black, the breast and sides of abdomen strongly washed. with 
blue; greater secondary-coverts with white tips; edge of wing and most of 
wing-lining white; axillars black. “Eyes black, feet red; nails and bill 
black.” (Celestino.) A male from northern Mindanao is 152 in length; 
wing, 64; tail, 27; culmen from base, 41; tarsus, 10. A female from 
the same region is 150 in length; wing, 60; tail, 22; culmen from base, 
39; tarsus, 10. 
In some specimens the white patch behind ear-coverts is washed with 
buff and some of the median secondary-coverts are tipped with pale blue. 
These characters are probably due to immaturity. 
“We obtained four specimens in Mindanao and one in Basilan; it is 
extremely rare in the latter island, at least in the portion over which we 
collected. Like A. cyanopectus and A. nigrirostris it is invariably found 
along the banks of wooded streams. 
“Tris very dark brown; legs and feet scarlet, much darker in some 
specimens than in others; nails red to black. Three males from Min- 
danao measure, 145 in length; wing, 59; tail, 21; culmen, 39; tarsus, 
9; middle toe with claw, 15. A female from Basilan measures, 143 in 
length; wing, 61; tail, 28; culmen, 39; tarsus, 9; middle toe with claw, 
16.” (Bourns and Worcester MS.) 
