HALCYON. 579 



In the account of the Hoopoes given in the 'Birds of Europe' the length of 

 hill in Indian examples of If. nigripennis is said to vary from 2*0 inches to 2-35, 

 while, in Burmese examples, the hill varies from 2*0 to 2*5 inches, which agrees 

 with the measurements of my five specimens. Mr. Hume, in some remarks 

 on this species, ohserves that whereas a Pegu bird had a bill measuring 

 2' 5 inches, he had never known an Indian bird to have one exceeding 2*1 inches. 

 Independently, however, of the birds mentioned in the article on Hoopoes in the 

 Birds of Europe, there is a bird in the British Museum measuring 2' 2 inches in 

 the bill. Although the majority of the Burmese specimens may have a longer 

 biUthan others from India, there are some which do not exceed the latter, 

 and therefore I cannot see any grounds for separating V. longirostris as a distinct 

 species. 



'Familj—ALC:E1)INIDM 



Genus Halcyon, Swainson. 

 20. Halcyon smyrnensis, Linn. 



Marihi-pecheur de la cote de Malabar, Buff., PL Enl., p. 894. 



Alcedo smi/r?iensis, Linn., Syst. Nat., t. i, p. 181, 1766; Mc'ClelL, Proc. Zool. Soc, 1839, 



p. 156. 

 Alcedo ftisea, Bodd., Tabl. PI. Enl., p. 54 (1783, ex Buff.)-, Martens, Journ. £. Orn., 1866, 

 p. 18. 



Ealcyon smijrnensis, Steph., Gen. Zool., vol. xiii, p. 99, 1826; Sykes, Proc. Zool. Soc., 1831, p. 84; 

 Gray, Gen. B., vol. i, p. 79, 1846; id.. Cat. Fissir. Brit. Mus., p. 55, 1848; Blyth, Cat. B. 

 Mus., As. Soc, Bengal, p. 47, 1849; Bonap. Consp., t. i, p. 155, 1850 ; Cass., Cat. Halcyon, 

 PMad. Mus., p. 6, 1852; Moore, Proc. Zool. Soc, 1854, p. 268; Horsf. & Moore, Cat. B. 

 Mus. E. Ind. Co., vol. i, p. 125, 1856-58 ; Blyth, Ibis, 1866, p. 348; Tristr., t. c, p. 86 ; Sharpe, 

 Monogr. Aleed., pi. lix, 1870; Hume, Stray Feathers, 1873, p. 168; Adam., i.e., p. 372; 

 Ball, op. cit., 1874, p. 387; Hume, t. c, p. 470; id.. Nests and Eggs, Ind. B., p. 105, 1875; 

 Dresser, B. Eur., pt. xlii, 1875; Hume, Stray Feathers, 1875, p. 51 ; Armstrong, op. cit, 1876, 

 p. 306; Hume, t. c, p. 383; op. cit, 1877, p. 19; t c, Gates, p. 143; Fairbank, op. cit, 

 1876, p. 394. 



Bacelo smymensis, Less., Traite d^Orn., p. 246, 1831. 



Halcyon fusca. Gray, Gen. B., vol. i, p. 79, 1846; id.. Cat. Fissir. Brit. Mus., p. 55, 1848 ; Bonap. 

 Consp., t. i, p. 155, 1850 ; Cass., Cat. Halcyon, Pbilad. Mus., p. 6, 1852; Horsf. & Moore, 

 Cat. B. Mus. E. Ind. Co., vol. i, p. 125, 1856-58; Jerdon, B. Ind., vol. i, p. 224, 1862; Pelz., 

 Beise Novara, Vogel., p. 49, 1865; Stoliczka, Journ. As. Soc, Bengal, vol. xxxviii, 1868, p. 19; 

 Walden, Ibis, 1871, p. 165 ; Jerdon, op. cit, 1872, p. 4. 



Eniomothera smymensis, Reich., Handb. Alced., p. 13, 1851. 



Entomotherafusca, Reich., L c, p. 12, t. ccccix, figs. 3088-89, 1851. 



EntomoUa smymensis. Cab. & Heine, Mus. Hein., th. ii, p. 155, note, 1860. 



Entomohia fusca, id., I. c, p. 155, 1860. 



Dacelo fusca, Schl, Mus. P.-B. Alcedines, p. 28, 1863; Heugl., Orn. n. o. Afr., 188, 1869. 



a. Mengoon, 14th January 1868. 

 I. c. d. Bhamo, February 1868. 



Prevalent in Upper Burma. 



