82 BIRDS OF BRITISH BURMAH. 



471. HALCYON SMYENENSIS. 

 THE WHITE-BREASTED KINGFISHER. 



Alcedo smyrnensis, Linn. Syst. Nat. i. p. 181. Alcedo fusca, Bodd. Tabl. PI. Enl. 

 p. 54. Halcyon fuscus, Jerd. B. Ind. i. p. 224. Halcyon smyrnensis, 

 Sharpe, Mon. Alced. p. 161, pi. 59 ; Hume, Nests and Eggs, p. 105 ; Dresser, 

 Birds Eur. v. p. 133, pi. ; Bl B. Burm. p. 70 ; Armstrong, S. F. iv. p. 306 ; 

 Oates, S. F. v. p. 143 ; Hume fy Dav. S. F. vi. p. 74 ; Anders. Yunnan Exped. 

 p. 579; Legge, Birds Ceylon, p. 298; Hume, S.F. viii. p. 85; Bingham, S.F. ix. 

 p. 154 ; Kelliam, Ibis, 1881, p. 380. Entomobia smyrnensis, David et Oust. 

 Ois. Chine, p. 76. 



Description. Male and female. Chin, throat and centre of the breast 

 white ; remainder of the head and lower plumage, the whole neck and the 

 upper back rich chocolate-brown ; centre of the back and scapulars greenish 

 blue ; lower back, rump and upper tail-coverts ultramarine-blue ; tail blue, 

 the centre feathers duller ; lesser wing-coverts chestnut ; median coverts 

 black ; greater coverts black, tipped with blue ; primaries with a patch of 

 white on the inner webs, increasing in extent till it occupies nearly the 

 whole web on the last primary; the outer webs correspondingly bluish 

 white, then blue for a short distance, and finally the tips of the feathers 

 black ; secondaries and tertiaries blue, broadly edged with brown on the 

 inner web. 



Bill dark red, with the margins brownish ; mouth bright red ; iris 

 brown ; eyelids plumbeous, the edges pinkish brown ; legs coral-red ; 

 claws horny. 



Length ITS inches, tail 3' 7, wing 4*7, tarsus '6, bill from gape 2'6. The 

 female is of the same size. 



The White-breasted Kingfisher is abundant over the whole Province, 

 except, perhaps, on the higher hills and mountains. 



It has a considerable range, being found throughout the Indo-Burmese 

 countries, the whole of India, with Ceylon, and further on in Southern 

 Asia as far as Palestine and the Red Sea. It occurs in China, Siam, 

 Cochin China and the Malay peninsula. 



This Kingfisher has habits peculiar to itself, being in great measure 

 independent of water and living mostly on small reptiles and large insects. 

 It is found principally in well-wooded parts of the country, flying from tree 

 to tree and seizing its prey on the ground. It has a loud and easily 

 recognizable call. The eggs, usually five in number, are laid in a hole in 

 the bank of a ravine in forests and not in the banks of rivers. The 

 breeding-season lasts from April to June. 



