SACRED KINGFISHER. 79 



base: the legs blackish. In some specimens a 

 dark or blackish streak or band passes from the 

 angles of the bill through the eyes, encircling the 

 crown ; and in others the vent and thighs are 

 dusky, the green on the upper parts darker, and 

 the wings and tail deep blue. Specimens have 

 also been observed in which the crown of the 

 head, wings, and tail were of a very dark or blue- 

 ish green, the wing coverts alone being pale-blue. 



Far. 



CRESTED SACRED KINGFISHER. 



The most remarkable variety seems to be the 

 crested one, described and figured in Mr. White's 

 Journal of a Voyage to New South Wales. In 

 this variety the head is strongly crested; the bill 

 black, and the legs reddish. The description ac- 

 companying the figure runs thus. " This bird is 

 about the size of a Thrush, and measures nearly 

 ten inches in length: the top of the head is blue 

 and crested ; sides of the head and back part of it 

 black; over the eye, from the nostrils, a rusty- co- 

 loured streak; the chin, middle of the neck all 

 round, and all the under parts of the body, buff- 

 colour, more or less inclining to rust; the upper 

 part of the plumage chiefly blue ; but the begin- 

 ning of the back is black, as are also the quills and 

 tail-feathers within, being blue only on the outer 

 edges: the bill is large and black, but the base of 

 the under jaw is whitish: the legs are brown." In 



