80 COLLARED KINGFISHER. 



most of the regions where these birds are found, 

 the inhabitants are said to hold them in particular 

 esteem, and hence the title of sacred, applied to 

 the present species. 



COLLARED KINGFISHER. 



Alcedo collaris. A. viridi-ccerulea, corpore subtus collarique albis. 



Lath. ind. orn. 



Blue-green Kingfisher, white beneath, and with white collar. 

 Le Martin-pecheur a collier blanc. Buff. ois. Sonner. voy. pi. 



33. 

 Sacred Kingfisher. Var. D. Lath, syn, 



THIS, which is described by Sonnerat, is a na- 

 tive of the Philippine islands, and is said to be 

 smaller than a Blackbird : the bill is black, with 

 the lower mandible yellowish at the base : the 

 head, back, wings, and tail blue, tinged with 

 green: the under parts of the body white, sur- 

 rounding the neck like a collar. This species 

 seems much allied to the Alcedo ccerulea or White- 

 Collared Kingfisher, but differs in being white be- 

 neath. Dr. Latham, in his Synopsis of Birds, con- 

 sidered it as a variety of the Sacred Kingfisher, but 

 in his Index Ornithologicus stations it as a distinct 

 species. 



