Mr. R. Swinhoe on Chinese Ornithology : 361 



(2) THALURANIA IOIuEMA. 



Thalurania iolo&mus, Von Pelz. Ornith. Bras. p. 57. 

 Hab. Ypanema, Brazil. 



Not having seen the type of this species, we are unable to 

 form an opinion regarding it. 



XLII. — Notes on Chinese Ornithology. 

 By Robert Swinhoe, F.Z.S. &c. 



The last good thing I got at Ningpo was a very fine female 

 specimen of Ceryle lugubris, shot by a friend near a stream 

 at the foot of the mountains. The strangest part of the 

 plumage of this bird is the pretty russet-coloured axillaries 

 tinted like salted salmon. Curiously enough, Sharpe makes 

 no mention of this in his ' Monograph of the Kingfishers/ 

 thereby leading me to consider I had got a new species, until 

 I was put right by a reference to Jerdon's ' Birds of India/ 

 In the monograph the Himalayan bird is described in the 

 text as having brownish -black legs ; but the plate shows them, 

 together with the claws, of a tile-red. My specimen is smaller 

 than the Nagasaki bird, whose measurements are given, 

 though not so small as the Himalayan ; and I agree with Mr. 

 Sharpe that it is not possible to put the two birds apart. 



I have only seen Ceryle guttata up the country here on 

 one or two occasions. It is fond of streams and canals flanked 

 by trees and thick bushes, among which its sits watching for 

 its prey. When disturbed it starts silently and flies down 

 stream, keeping within a yard or so of the water. I have 

 never seen it hover, like its congener, at a good height above 

 the water. In fact, it more nearly resembles in manners the 

 King of the Shrimps (Alcedo bengalensis) than any of our 

 other species. 



Ceryle rudis is a very rare bird in Ningpo ; and I have only 

 seen it on one or two occasions. On the Yangtse it did not 

 occur till we were nearly up in Szechuen, where the river was 

 well south. 



I was relieved of my charge at Ningpo, and took up my 



