' 



RUFOUS VENTED KINGHUNTER. 103 



rufous : tail rounded ; the tertials are glossed with 

 blue ; and there is a dusky spot before the eye. 



Total length, 8| or 9 inches ; bill, from the front, 

 1 T 6_ ; w ings, 4; tail beyond, 1| ; ditto from the 

 base, 3. 



LITTLE RUFOUS-CHEEKED KINGHUNTER. 



Halcyon cyanotis, SWAINS. 



Sides of the head, ears, and neck, rufous, glossed with purple 

 violet ; crown of the head and nape, black, with transverse 

 blue spots ; chin and throat white ; breast and body be- 

 neath orange rufous ; bill and feet red. 



Todier de Jiuda, PL Enl 783, fig. 1 Todier bleu a ventre 

 rouge, Bujfon Todus cseruleus. Blue Tody of authors. 



THIS superb little species may be called the gem of 

 the family, both from its diminutive size and its 

 exceeding richness of colouring. It has, as usual, 

 been placed as a variety of another by our systema- 

 tists, who at first called it a fly-catcher ( Todies) and 

 then one of the four " varieties" of their Alcedo 

 ojeruleocephala. To the modern ornithologist it is a 

 very interesting species, since it possesses the broad 

 bill of Halcyon and more syndactile feet of Alcedo. 

 The outer toe is only disconnected from the middle 

 toe at its terminal joint, and there are no apparent 

 scales .either upon the tarsus or the toes ; the tail ia 



