310 MANUAL OF PHILIPPINE BIRDS. 
273. ALCYONE FLUMENICOLA (Steere). 
STEERE’S -. KINGFISHER. 
Ceyx flumenicola STEERE, List. Birds & Mams. Steere Exped. (1890), 10. 
Ceyx fluminicola SHARPE, Cat. Birds Brit. Mus. (1892), 17, 187; Hand-List 
(1900), 2, 53. 
Aleyone fluminicola McGrecor and WorcESTER, Hand-List (1906), 53. 
Leyte (Hverett, Steere Exp., Whitehead); Samar (Steere Exp., Bourns & 
Worcester, Whitehead). 
“Adult male.—Similar to C. argentata, but differing in having the 
breast and sides of body black, washed with ultramarine or purplish 
blue. ‘Bill black; legs and feet scarlet, the nails brown; iris brown.’ 
(Worcester.) Length, 127; culmen, 37; wing, 61; tail, 23; tarsus, 10. 
“Adult female-—Similar to the male in color. Length, 140; culmen, 
37; wing, 58; tail, 22; tarsus, 9. 
“The specimen from Leyte is more ultramarine on the breast than 
those from Samar, which incline to purplish blue; but Steere unites the 
birds from the two islands, and thus the Leyte specimen in the Museum 
may be immature, especially as it has the throat and abdomen tinged 
with buff. This last character Steere considers to be specific, but I feel 
sure that it is a sign of immaturity.” (Sharpe.) 
“We had scant faith in Steere’s C. flumenicola before our return to the 
Philippines. But one specimen of C. argentata was collected by the 
Steere Expedition, and that was so shot to pieces that the differences 
between it and C. flumenicola were not in evidence to any great extent. 
The examination of a good series of specimens from Mindanao and Basi- 
lan has, however, convinced us that the Samar-Leyte birds are quite 
distinct. , 
“The blue of the under parts affords the best means of distinguishing 
the species, being much darker in the northern birds. The under wing- 
coverts in the southern birds are white; in the northern birds they are 
almost invariably light buff. All of our specimens from the south have 
pure white throats, while the northern birds usually have the white of 
the throat washed with buff. This last character is not of a very satis- 
factory nature, however, as the northern birds show a great deal of 
individual variation in this respect. This variation is independent of the 
sex ; nor does it seem to be, as Dr. Sharpe thinks, a sign of immaturity, 
young birds in some cases having very little of the color. C. flumenicola 
is always found along the wooded banks of streams where it perches over 
the water. 
“Tris very dark brown; legs and feet bright scarlet; nails usually 
blackish; bill black. Food, in one case, small crabs. Eight males meas- 
ure, 136 in length; wing, 56; tail, 23; culmen, 36; tarsus, 8; middle 
toe with claw, 20. Five females measure, 139 in length; wing, 57; tail, 
