their food, I apprehend it is only in the absence of other larger 

 prey more suited to the construction of their bills. 



Total length eight inches and a half. Bill two inches three 

 lines from the gape, and one inch three quarters from the nos- 

 trils; upper mandible and margin and lip of the lower, black, 

 the rest yellowish-white. The general plumage above is pale 

 and changeable greenish-blue, the green predominating on the 

 scapulars, head and tail ; the upper part of the neck is crossed 

 by a white collar, separated from the green of the head by a nar- 

 row margin of black, which passes on the ear-feathers round the 

 nape ; a narrow whitish line runs from the nostrils to the eye- 

 brows, and another very short one is beneath the eye ; the whole 

 of the under plumage white. Quills black edged Avith blue, the 

 second, third and fourth equal and longest. Wings foiu- inches 

 and a quarter. Tail even, near three inches long, above blue- 

 green, beneath black. Feet dusky ; middle and outer claws much 

 longer than the leg. 



Inhabits Java and other parts of India, and is I believe un- 

 figured. The line at the bottom of the plate is on the scale of 

 an inch. 



Since writing the above, Temminck's new edition of the Ma- 

 iiuel iV Ornitlwlogie has just reached me, in which I perceive he 

 has continued the birds of this genus under that of Ahedo, ob- 

 serving that their plumage is always shining, and that he can find 

 no characters for their geographic distribution : yet, notwith- 

 standing the opinion of this eminent ornithologist, a close atten- 

 tion will I believe prove, first, that no species of Linnajan Al- 

 cedo bearing the characters of Ilalci/on have yet been discovered 

 as natives of America ; and secondly, that species of genuine 

 Alcedo will be found with plumage quite devoid of any bright 

 or shining colours. One or two exist in my own cabinet, but 

 to which I cannot now refer. 



The situation o^ Halcyon will be between Alcedo and Dacelo; 

 from the last of which it is distinguished by its perfectly straight, 

 acute, and entire upper mandible, which, on the contrary, in 

 Dacelo is notched, the tip bent and obtuse. 



