collected in Dutch New Guinea. 219 



hot hours of the day. The huts and store-houses were 

 infested by myriads of black crickets, which take the place 

 of cockroaches found in other countries and commit fearful 

 havoc among stores and personal possessions. The constant 

 packing up of goods to send up the river drove thousands of 

 these insects to seek shelter in other parts of the camp, and, 

 at such times, Kingfishers became very tame and darted in 

 and out among the buildings, taking advantage of the feast 

 thus afforded. 



" The Sacred Kingfisher was not a common species inland, 

 but was quite plentiful on the coast, where it was usually 

 seen singly or in pairs sitting on the dead trees or making 

 with a swift straight flight for the shelter of the \\\^\\- 

 gvoyes."—C.B.B.G. 



Tanysiptera sylvia. 



Tant/siptera sylvia Gould ; Sharpe, Cat. xvii. p. 300 

 (1892) ; Roths. & Hartert, N. Z. viii. p. 157 (1901). 



Tanysiptera sylvia salvadoriana Ramsay ; van Oort, p. 78 

 (1909). 



a. S imm. Launch Camp, Setakwa River, 5th Nov. 

 1912. [C.B.K,-] 



This immature male seems to agree in all particulars with 

 examples of T. sylvia of a similar age from North-east 

 Australia. I have also compared it with the type-specimens 

 collected by Macgillivray at Cape York, and after making- 

 due allowance for differences of age, it agrees perfectly with 

 these. 



Dr. van Oort records an immature female from Sabang, on 

 the Lorentz River, as undoubtedly referable to T. s. salva- 

 doriana Ramsay. This is the form found in South-east New 

 Guinea with a lighter blue crown and back and paler buff 

 underparts. 



T. sylvia was believed to be confined to North-east 

 Australia, and its presence on the Setakwa River is difficult 

 to explain. It is not known to occur in the Aru Islands, 

 where T. liydrocharis Gray is found. The list of specimens 

 pf T. sylvia given in the British Museum Catalogue includes 



