VI 



ALCEDIXIDAE 



385 



Sub-fam. 1. Halcyoninae. Tanysiptera sahrina of the Moluc- 

 cas, one of the members of 



a large and very beautiful 



genus, is white, except for 



the crown and wing-coverts, 



which are bright blue, and 



the cheeks, nape, remiges, 



upper back and scapulars, 



which are bluish - black. 



The two median rectrices 



have bluish shafts with 



white racquet-tips ; the bill 



is red. T. nympha of New 



Gruinea differs in its Ijlue 



tail, vermilion rump and 



under parts. Cittura cya- 



oiotis of Celebes has a rufous 

 head and chestnut tail, a 

 brown back with partially 

 buff scapulars, bluish-black 

 wings with blue coverts, 

 a blue eye-streak (black in 

 the female), a lilac under 

 surface, and a dark red bill. 

 Halcyon coromandus of 

 Eastern Asia is brown with 

 a lovely lilac tinge above 

 and a sky-blue rump, the 

 lower parts being orange- 

 rufous, and the bill red. 

 H. cyaniventris of Java is 

 rich blue above ; the head 

 and wing-coverts are mainly 

 black, the lower parts ultra- 

 marine, the throat and 

 cheeks rufous, extending as 

 a "collar to the nape ; the bill 



era 



J ^ T Tr 7 Fl<^- 80. Kacquet-tailed Kingfisher. Tanysiptt 



IS dark red. H.semicaeruleus am. x .v. {Yiom Malay Archiixlago.) 

 of Arabia, West and East 



Africa, has a whitish head and under parts, with a chestnut 



VOL. IX 2 c 



