ALCYONE. 309 



much more rare. It is to be found along the banks of small fresh-water 

 streams, which it is extremely loath to leave. In Sibuyan one specimen 

 was seen in a mangrove swamp. We never met with it away from water. 

 Legs, feet, and nails scarlet; upper mandible black, lower red; food (in 

 one case) fish. 



"Eight males average, 138 in length ; wing, 58 ; tail, 22 ; culmen, 39 ; 

 tarsus, 9 ; middle toe with claw, 17. Seven females average, 142 in length ; 

 wing, 60; tail, 22; tarsus, 9; middle toe with claw, 17; culmen, 39." 

 (Bourns and Worcester MS.) 



272. ALCYONE ARGENTATA (Tweeddale). 

 SILVERY KINGFISHER. 



Ceyx argentata TWEEDDALE, Ann. & Mag. Nat. Hist. (1877), 20, (4), 533; 



Proc. Zool. Soc. (1878), pi. 6, 108; SHARPE, Cat. Birds Brit. Mus. 



(1892), 17, 187; Hand-List (1900), 2, 53. 

 Alcyone argentata MCGREGOR and WORCESTER, Hand-List (1906), 52. 



Basilan (Bourns & Worcester) ; Dinagat (Everett) ; Mindanao (Everett, Koch 

 & Schadenberg, Steere Exp., Bourns & Worcester, Goodfellow, Celestino ) . 



Adult. Sexes similar; upper parts, wings, and sides of head black; 

 bases of loral feathers white ; sides of crown from above eyes to nape with 

 small white spots; back, rump, and upper tail-coverts white, resulting 

 from the wide tips to the feathers; white tip of each feather preceded 

 by a light blue bar which is more or less concealed; a large white patch 

 on each side of neck; chin, throat, and fore breast pure white, forming 

 a well-defined patch ; thighs and middle of abdomen white ; remainder of 

 under parts black, the breast and sides of abdomen strongly washed with 

 blue ; greater secondary-coverts with white tips ; edge of wing and most of 

 wing-lining white; axillars black. "Eyes black, feet red; nails and bill 

 black." (Celestino.) A male from northern Mindanao is 152 in length; 

 wing, 64; tail, 27; culmen from base, 41; tarsus, 10. A female from 

 the same region is 150 in length; wing, 60; tail, 22; culmen from base, 

 39; tarsus, 10. 



In some specimens the white patch behind ear-coverts is washed with 

 buff and some of the median secondary-coverts are tipped with pale blue. 

 These characters are probably due to immaturity. 



"We obtained four, specimens in Mindanao and one in Basilan; it is 

 extremely rare in the latter island, at least in the portion over which we 

 collected. Like A. cyanopectus and A. nigrirostris it is invariably found- 

 along the banks of wooded streams. 



"Iris very dark brown; legs and feet scarlet, much darker in some 

 specimens than in others; nails red to black. Three males from Min- 

 danao measure, 145 in length; wing, 59; tail, 21; culmen, 39; tarsus, 

 9; middle toe with claw, 15. A female from Basilan measures, 143 in 

 length; wing, 61; tail, 28; culmen, 39; tarsus, 9; middle toe with claw, 

 16." (Bourns and Worcester MS.) 



