LONG-SHAFTED KINGFISHER. 



Alcedo Dea. A. nigro cceruka^ subtus subrosaceo-alba, rectricibus 



duabus intermediis longissimis. 

 Dark-bine Kingfisher, subrosaceous white beneath, with the two 



middle tail-feathers very long. 

 Alcedo Dea. A. rectricibus duabus intermediis longissimis media 



attenuatis, corpore nigro ccerulescente, alts mrescentibus. Lin. 



Syst. Nat. Lath. ind. orn. 



Avis paradisiaca teniatana. Seb. mits. 1. t. 46. f. 3. 

 Martin-pecheur a longs brins. Buff. ois. PI. Enl. Il6. 

 Ternate Kingfisher. Lath. syn. 



THIS highly elegant bird departs in some degree 

 from the rest of the genus Alcedo in point of habit, 

 and would perhaps be arranged under a distinct 

 genus by an ornithologist solicitous of scrupulous 

 exactitude. Linnaeus, however, placed it among 

 the rest of the Kingfishers, and I shall, in the pre- 

 sent instance, follow his example* 



The Alcedo Dea or Long-Shafted Kingfisher 

 seems to have been first described and figured in 

 the magnificent work of Seba, under the title of 

 Avis Paradisiaca Ternatana, or Ternate Paradise- 

 Bird. His description, however, is but slight, and 

 the figure not entirely correct. A highly accurate 

 description occurs in the Ornithology of Bnsson, 

 accompanied by a very exact figure. The size of 

 the bird is that of a Starling, and its length, frorn. 

 the tip of the bill to that of the tail, is thirteen 

 inches and three lines; the wings, when closed, 

 reach only about an inch beypnd its base: the 



