CEYX. 311 



23; culmen, 34; tarsus, 9; middle toe with claw, 16." (Bourns and 

 Worcester MS.) 



274. ALCYONE NIGRIROSTRIS (Bourns and Worcester). 



BLACK-BILLED KINGFISHER. 



Ceyx nigrirostris BOUENS and WORCESTER, Minnesota Acad. Nat. Sci. Occ. 



Papers (1894), 1, 13; SHARPE, Hand-List (1900), 2, 54. 

 Alcyone nigrirostris MCGREGOR and WORCESTER, Hand-List (1906), 53. 



Cebu (Bourns & Worcester) ; Negros (Bourns & Worcester, Whitehead) ; Panay 

 (Bourns & Worcester). 



"Adult male. Back and upper tail-coverts bright cobalt-blue, slightly 

 lighter than in C. cyanipectus; crown and nape blue-black, thickly spotted 

 with bright cobalt, the spots being much wider and slightly lighter than 

 in C. cyanipectus; spots much larger on hind neck, causing it to appear 

 nearly uniform cobalt ; scapulars black, heavily washed with dark verditer- 

 blue ; wing-coverts washed with verditer-blue, each feather with a bright 

 spot or stripe of cobalt-blue; wing black, the outer webs of secondaries 

 heavily washed with light verditer-blue ; tail black, the central pair of 

 feathers washed with verditer-blue on both webs, the others on outer 

 webs only ; loral spot reddish buff ; a spot of same color on sides of 

 neck; chin and throat white, washed with buff; fore neck, breast, and 

 abdomen uniform buff ; flanks, sides of breast, and a complete band across 

 the breast dark verditer-blue; a half band of same color behind this; 

 under tail-coverts buff, the larger ones tipped with verditer-blue; under 

 wing-coverts like the breast, with a spot of verditer-blue at end; basal 

 portion of inner webs of primaries and secondaries washed with pale buff ; 

 bill black. Averge measurements from ten males: Culmen, 36; tarsus, 

 9; wing, 56 ; tail, 22. Length of a single male measured in the flesh, 165. 



''Female like male, but has only a half band of verditer-blue across 

 the breast, this being more imperfect than in C. cyanipectus. Average 

 measurements from three females: Culmen, 37; tarsus, 8; wing, 59; tail, 

 24. Length of single female measured in the flesh, 143. 



"A well-marked species easily distinguished from C. cyanipectus, its 

 nearest ally, by the heavy markings on crown and nape, by its black bill 

 and by the entirely different color of its under surface. Like the former 

 species, it is strictly confined to the banks of fresh-water streams and it 

 is usually found in the woods." (Bourns and Worcester.) 



Genus CEYX Lacepede, 1799. 



* 



Bill intermediate in form between Alcedo and Halcyon, less compressed 

 than in the former, not grooved; culmen straight and slightly flattened; 

 only three toes, the inner or second toe wanting; tail very short and 

 rounded; plumage very bright, red often predominating. (Blanford.) 



