108 



FOREIGN BIRDS FOR CAGE AND AVIARY. 



in order to secure a fine rat I saw hanging from its bill, 

 and which proved to lie a rare species. The Dacelo 

 ;/ it/as breeds during the months of August and Septem- 

 ber, generally select* a hole in a large gum tree for the 

 purpose, and deposits its beautiful pearl-white eggs, 

 which are lin. and' 9 lines long by lin. and 5 lines 

 broad, on the decomposed wood at the bottom. When 

 the young are hatched it defends 1 its breeding-place with 

 great courage and daring, dart-ing down upon any in- 

 truder who may attempt to ascend the tree." 



" It bears confinement remarkably well, and is one 

 of the most amusing birds for the aviary with which I 

 am acquainted. Many examples have been brought 

 alive to England, and several are now living in the 

 Gardens of the Zoological Society of London." 



My next-door neighbour brought home a pinioned 

 example of this by no means beautiful Kingfisher, and 

 kept it in a dog-kennel at the end of hie garden. I 

 repeatedly heard its horrible notes, which struck me as 

 remarkably like the gobbling of a turkey, and not even 

 remotely the laughter of a human being ; but possibly 

 in its native home the wide spaces, tall trees, and other 

 surrounding.- may alter the tone of the cry. On more 

 than one occasion I heard the death-screams of freshly- 

 flown Thrushes and other unsuspecting birds proceeding 

 from the kennel. The old scoundrel used to watch from 

 the entrance rmtil some unwary young bird came to 

 *eed upon the scraps put out for the Kingfisher, and 

 then suddenly spring upon it and literally tear it to 

 pieces for his own delectation. I should therefore quite 

 agree with Gould, that, if one took pleasure in the. 

 sufferings of the weak, this would indeed be " one of 

 the most a.mmsing birds in the aviary." 



This bii'd first reached our London Zoological Gardens 

 in 1856, when three specimens were purchased, sinoe 

 which time probably between seventy and eighty speci- 

 mens have been exhibited there alone ; how many have 

 been to the fore in. the zoological gardens of the world, 

 and the parks, pleasure-grounds, and gardens of private 

 aviculturists, it would be impossible even to guess; now, 

 however, the bird is rather strictly preserved. 



LEACH'S LAUGHING KINGFISHER (Dacelo leachii). 



Above brown, the feathers with paler margins ; lower 

 back, rump, and upper tail-coverts silvery-blue ; upper 

 tail-coverts and tail-feathers dark blue with black shafts 

 and increasingly white tips, the outer feathers more or 

 less spotted marginally with white towards the tips, and 

 the outermost feather barred with white on inner, and 

 mottled with white on outer, web ; median wing-coverts 

 edged with silvery greenish-blue, the inner ones almost 

 wholly of that colour; greater coverts slightly edged 

 with greenish ; bastard wing, primary-coverts and flights 

 deep blue externally, black at tips and internally ; a 

 large white patch at base of primaries ; crown of head 

 white streaked with brown, as also the sides of the 

 head ; a broad white collar round back of neck ; under- 

 urface dull white vermiculated with brown ; under 

 wing-coverts and axillaries with darker but less 

 numerous vermieulations ; upper mandible brown i^h- 

 black. lower mandible pale buff ; feet olive ; irides dark 

 brown. Female differs in the cinnamon-rufous colour 

 of the tail, which is barred with dark blue and tipped 

 with white. Hah.. Eastern Australia and North Aus- 

 tralia from Cape York to Port Darwin and Port E^ing- 

 ton. (Sharps. ) 



Gould observes ("Handbook," Vol. I , p. 124) : " The 

 habits, actions, food, and indeed the whole of the 

 economy of the /><-,!/, /, ft ,-iiii are so like those of the 



D. gigas that a separate description of them 1 is unneces- 

 sary." 



A specimen of this bird was presented to our London 

 Zoological Society in 1884. 



FAWN-BRKASTED OR BUFF LAUGHING KINGFISHER 

 (Dacelo cervina}. 



Differs from the preceding species in its smaller size ; 

 the tail slightly 'huffish below ; upper mandible blackish - 

 brown with greenish-white tomium ; lower mandible 

 greenish-white at the sides with dark brown base, and 

 blue below ; feet emerald-green with black claws ; irides 

 greenish-white. Female with the tail cinnamon barred 

 with blue. Hab., Northern Australia from Cape York 

 to N.W. Australia. (Sharpe.) 



Gould says ("Handbook," Vol. I., pp. 125, 126) : "In 

 disposition it appears to be more shy and wary than the 

 Dacclo fi'xjfiK of New -South Wales, of which it is a 

 representative. Gilbert, who observed it in the Coburg 

 Peninsula, states that it ' inhabits well-wooded forests, 

 generally in pairs, is extremely shy, and very difficult 

 to procure ; is very fond of perching on the topmost 

 dead branch of a tree, whence it can have an unin- 

 terrupted view of everything parsing around, and where 

 it pours out its loud, discordant tones. Sometimes three 

 or four pairs may be heard at one time, when the noise 

 is so great that no other sound can be heard. The 

 natives assert that it breeds in the honey season, which 

 is during the months of May, June and July.' >: 



" The food of this Kingfisher is doubtless similar to 

 that of the Darelo g if/as. The .stomachs of those 

 examined by Gilbert were tolerably muscular, and con- 

 tained the remains of coleopterous and other kinds 

 of insects." 



A. J. Campbell (" Nests and Eggs of Australian 

 Birds," p. 555) agrees with Dr. Sharp in regarding this 

 as a sub-species of Leach's Kingfisher ; he thus describes 

 the nest and eggs : 



Nest. A hole excavated in termites mound on a 

 euca.lypt, sometimes in holes or hollow sprouts of trees 

 eucalypt, melaleuca, etc. 



" /'lr/i/*. Clutch, two to three ; round oval in shape ; 

 texture of shell fine ; surface glossy ; colour, pure 

 white. Dimensions in inches of a clutch : (1) 1.62 x 

 1.38. (2) 1.58 x 1.4. (3) 1.52 x 1.3. 



'' The eggs of the Fawn-breasted Kingfisher, first 

 described by mv friend Mr. D. Le Souef. were taken 

 in November. 1896. He says: 'I noticed this bird 

 on two or three occasions in the open forest country 

 near Cooktown. and found two of their nests, each of 

 which contained three eggs. Both nests were hollows 

 scooped out in termites' nests in eucalyptus trees, one 

 about 30 feet from the ground and the other 50 feet. 

 The birds themselves were shy, and it is astonishing 

 how quickly they hear anyone approaching the tree 

 where thev are sitting on their nest, and they frequently 

 fly off before being seen.' " 



Three examples of this bird were purchased by the 

 London Zoological Society in May. 1870. Another 

 specimen was deposited in the Gardens by Mr. Walter 

 Rothschild in 1907. and an illustrated account of it 

 published in TJic .1 rirulfirral M(tt/n:i n< , Seeond Series, 

 Vol. V., pp. 172-174; it was imported bv Messrs. 

 1'ivne and Wallace, who again imported the species in 

 1908. 



RED-RUMPKD KINGFISHER, (Ualri/mi pyrrhopygius). 



Above green to the back of mantle, the crown and 

 sea pillars streaked with white, the latter feathers white 

 at base or on inner margin, back from mantle orange- 



