Ve 
CEYX. oe 
23; culmen, 34; tarsus, 9; middle toe with claw, 16.” (Bourns and 
Worcester MS.) 
‘274. ALCYONE NIGRIROSTRIS (Bourns and Worcester). 
BLACK-BILLED KINGFISHER. 
Ceyx nigrirostris BOURNS and WoRCESTER, Minnesota Acad. Nat. Sci. Occ. 
Papers (1894), 1, 13; SHARPE, Hand-List (1900), 2, 54. 
Alcyone nigrirostris McGREGOR and WorcESTER, Hand-List (1906), 53. 
Cebu (Bourns &€ Worcester) ; Negros (Bourns € Worcester, Whitehead) ; Panay 
(Bourns & Worcester). 
“Adult male.—Back and upper tail-coverts bright cobalt-blue, slightly 
lighter than in C. cyanipectus ; crown and nape blue-black, thickly spotted 
with bright cobalt, the spots being much wider and slightly lighter than 
in C. cyanipectus ; spots much larger on hind neck, causing it to appear 
nearly uniform cobalt; scapulars black, heavily washed with dark verditer- 
blue; wing-coverts washed with verditer-blue, each feather with a bright 
spot or stripe of cobalt-blue; wing black, the outer webs of secondaries 
heavily washed with light verditer-blue; tail black, the central pair of 
feathers washed with verditer-blue on both webs, the others on outer 
webs only; loral spot reddish buff; a spot of same color on sides of 
neck; chin and throat white, washed with buff; fore neck, breast, and 
abdomen uniform buff; flanks, sides of breast, and a complete band across 
the breast dark verditer-blue; a half band of same color behind this; 
under tail-coverts buff, the larger ones tipped with verditer-blue; under 
wing-coverts like the breast, with a spot of verditer-blue at end; basal 
portion of inner webs of primaries and secondaries washed with pale buff ; 
bill black. Averge measurements from ten males: Culmen, 36; tarsus, 
9; wing, 56; tail, 22. Length of a single male measured in the flesh, 165. 
“Female like male, but has only a half band of verditer-blue across 
the breast, this bemg more imperfect than in C. cyanipectus. Average 
measurements from three females: Culmen, 37; tarsus, 8; wing, 59; tail, 
24. Length of single female measured in the flesh, 143. 
“A well-marked species easily distinguished from C. cyanipectus, its 
nearest ally, by the heavy markings on crown and nape, by its black bill 
and by the entirely different color of its under surface. Like the former 
species, it is strictly confined to the banks of fresh-water streams and it 
is usually found in the woods.” (Bourns and Worcester.) 
Genus CEYX Lacépéde, 1799. 
Bill intermediate in form between Alcedo and Halcyon, less compressed 
than in the former, not grooved; culmen straight and slightly flattened ; 
only three toes, the inner or second toe wanting; tail very short and 
rounded ; plumage very bright, red often predominating. (Blanford.) 
