PELARGOPSIS. 487 



edged with blue ; tail chestnut, tipped narrowly with brown ; under wing 

 coverts pale rufous. Bill coral red ; irides dark brown ; legs red. 



Length. 5*4 inches; tail ri ; wing 2*2 ; tarsus 0-3 ; bill from gape 1-55. 



Hab. The greater part of India and Ceylon, also British Burmah, the 

 Malay Peninsula, Sumatra and Java. It has been recorded from South 

 India and the Deccan ; also from Arrakan, Bengal, and Pegu. Affects 

 rocky streams in dense forests. Breeds in Ceylon. 



Gen. Pelargopsis. 



Kingfishers with large, stout bills, broad at the base, and the culmen inclin- 

 ing upwards towards the tip ; rictus smooth ; margin of culmen slightly 

 sinuated ; lower mandible angulated ; gonys ascending ; groove of the upper 

 mandible strongly marked for about two-third its length. 



1124. PelargOpSiS gurial (Pearson), Sharpe, Mon. Alced. p. 97, 

 pi. 29. Halcyon leucocephalus, Jerd., B. Ind. i. p. 222, No. 127; Hume t 

 Nest and Eggs Ind. B. p. 105 ; Oa/es, B* JBr. Burnt, ii. p. 79 (note). 

 The BROWN-HEADED or the INDIAN STORK-BILLED KINGFISHER. 



Head, lores, cheeks and nape olive brown or dark olive brown ; hind neck 

 above the scapulars and scapulars dingy brownish green ; quills, sides of lower 

 back, upper tail coverts and tail dull bluish green, the quills tipped with 



lusky black ; the inner webs of all also dusky ; middle of back to rump 

 light bright azure blue ; chin and throat yellowish white, becoming buffy like 



ic sides of the neck, with which it joins; rest of lower plumage orange buff; 

 bill dark blood red ; legs coral red ; irides light brown. 



Length. 16 inches ; tail 4 ; wing 6 ; bill at gape 4 inches. 



Hab. Southern India and Ceylon to Bengal and the Himalayas, affecting 

 well-wooded forests. In Malabar Jerdon says it is common; rare in the 

 Carnatic ; found occasionally in Central India and the Northern Circars. 

 Breeds in the lower Himalayas during June. Eggs, 4 in number, round, pure 

 white ; size i "09 X i -02 inch. 



1125. PelargOpSiS amauroptera (Pearson), Sharpe, Mon. Alced. 

 P- 97> Pi- 3 ; Blythj B. Bur?n. p. 70 ; Armstrong, Str. F. iv. p. 305 ; 

 Hume and Davison, Str. F. vi. p. 73 ; Hume, Str. F viii. p. 85 ; Oates, B. Br. 

 Burnt, ii. p. 78. Halcyon amauroptera, Pearson, J. A. S. B.x.. p. 635 ; Jerd. t 

 B. Ind. i. p. 224, Np 128. The BROWN-WINGED STORK-BILLED KINGFISHER. 



Whole head, neck, under surface of the body, and the under wing coverts deep 

 ochraceous fawn or buff ; the neck in some specimens which are not quite adult 

 obsoletely barred with black ; sides of the back and of the upper tail coverts 

 dark cinnamon brown ; middle of back, the rump, and the shorter upper tail 

 coverts bright silvery caerulean blue ; wings and tail dark cinnamon brown. 

 VOL. II. 63 



