380 Lieut. H. E<. Kelham on 



Halcyon smyrnensis (Liim.) . The White-breasted Kiug- 

 fisher. 



By far the most common of all Malayan Kingfishers ; it 

 is a very widely diistributed species ; I have shot specimens 

 as far east as Hong- Kong (that is to say, if the Chinese and 

 .Malayan birds are identical, which they seem to be) j west- 

 ward it is plentiful tliroughout India and Ceylon, according 

 to Jerdon extending even to the eastern shores of the Medi- 

 terranean. 



In Canton the skins of this Kingfisher are articles of com- 

 merce, the beautiful azure-blue plumage of the upper parts 

 being much used in the manufacture of jewelry, and I saw 

 ear-rings and other trinkets in which particles of its feathers 

 had been so deftly worked as to look exactly like blue enamel. 



In the Malay peninsula it is exceedingly abundant about 

 the wooded jheels and rivers of the interior, though also 

 plentiful among the paddy-fields of the cultivated districts ; 

 it is occasionally met Avitli in the mangrove-swamps border- 

 ing the coasts, though near the sea its place is to a great 

 extent usurped by the white-collared species {H. chloris) . 



It appears to be more of a wanderer and of stronger flight 

 than most of the Kingfishers ; I often saw it at some distance 

 from water, frequently perched on the topmost bough of a 

 tree uttering its harsh grating cry. 



I found it exceedingly plentiful on the banks of the Perak 

 river. In the neighbourhood of Kwala Kangsar it simply 

 swarmed, and any morning I might have shot a dozen speci- 

 mens ; as it was, its beautiful plumage induced me to shoot 

 many a one Avhich, but for its fatal beauty, would have 

 escaped. 



I am unable to distinguish any difference in the plumage 

 of the sexes. 



Halcyon pileata (Bodd.). The Black-capped Purple 

 Kingfisher. 



Not so common as H. smt/rnensis, still fairly plentiful 

 throughout the country. I obtained it in Perak, Penang, 

 Moar, Malacca, and Singapore, 



