HALCYON collaris. 



Collared Crabeater. 



Gexkric Ciiauactek. 

 Rostrum longissiimtm, reef inn, vaJichim, ad basin latins qiiam aUiiis, laierihus Ic- 

 tru'^onis ; mamVdnda superiorc rcdissima, ad basin rotundala ; iriferiore 

 carinafa, rccnrvata, margine svperioris infcriorum obtcgente. Narcs ba- 

 sales, 7iicmbraria tecta, upertura mida, lineari obliqua. Cauda plerurnque 

 mediocris. Pedes gj'essorii, digito antico interiore minimo aid nidlo. 

 Typus Genericus Alcedo Scncgalensis. Linn. 



Bill very long, straight, thick, the base broader than high ; the sides tetra- 

 gonal : upper mandible very straight, the base rounded ; under maa- 

 dible beneath carinated and recurved, the margins covered by those 

 of the upper. Nostrils basal, covered by a membrane, the aperture 

 naked, linear and oblique. Tail mostl}' moderate. Feet gressorial: 

 interior fore-toe small or wanting. 



Generic Type Crabeating Kingsfisher. Latham. 



Specific Character. 

 H. tiridi-cccrulea ; corpore subtus, lunulaque cerviculi albis. 



Greenish-blue. Body beneath and nuchal collar white. 

 Alcedo collaris. Latham Index Ornith. i. 2oO. 

 Sacred Kingsfisher, Var. D. Latham Si/n. ii. p. G23. 

 Collared Kingsfisher. Gen. Zool. viii. i. p. 80. 



Referring to the observations Ave have already made on 

 Kingsfishers generally, it will be ojily necessary to observe, that 

 the species now formed into the genus Halcyon appear entirely 

 excluded from the American continent: their bills are much 

 stronger, thicker, and more rounded than the genuine Kings- 

 fishers, and the under mandible beneath invariably carinated and 

 curving upwards. One of them (the Alcedo Senegahnsis of 

 Latham) is known to feed on crabs, the breaking and disjoint- 

 ing of which this structure seems admirably calculated to ac- 

 complish ; and although some authors mention insects also as 

 PI. 27. 



