642 PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL MUSEUM. vol.48. 



The rudely kingfisher is apparently a strictly resident species 

 wherever found, with the possible exception of Japan, though it is 

 known to winter even there, and we are aware of no authentic 

 records of the Japanese race, Entomofhera coromanda major, outside its 

 known breeding range. In habits the bird is shy, living along the 

 streams and about lakes and mangrove swamps near the coast, 

 though found also in the forests away from water. 



The present species is without much doubt generically distinct 

 from Alcedo senegalensis Linnaeus, the type of Halcyon Swainson. It 

 differs from Halcyon senegalensis as follows: Bill much larger in 

 every way (relatively as well as actually) ; exposed culmen about 

 half the length of the wing instead of much less as in Halcyon sene- 

 galensis; tip of culmen more distinctly decurved; gonys more up- 

 curved; culmen less sharply ridged; gonys less sharply keeled; scu- 

 tellae of tarsus much smoother; and first (outermost) primary much 

 shorter than the seventh, at most not longer than the eighth. The 

 proper generic designation for this group is Entomothera Horsfield, 1 

 the type of which is, by subsequent designation, 2 Alcedo coromanda 

 Latham. This name is commonly cited from Horsfield's paper, Sys- 

 tematic Arrangement and Description of Birds from the Island of 

 Java, published in the Transactions of the Linnaean Society of Lon- 

 don, volume 13, May, 1821, but here the name occurs thus: 



"This section [section 2] of the genus Alcedo (to the individuals of 

 which the denomination of Entomotherse 'Chasseurs' may be applied) 

 holds a situation intermediate between Alcedo and DaceloT 3 



The species included by Horsfield in this group are as follows: 



Alcedo tridactyla Linnaeus ( = Ceyx tridactylus [Linnaeus]). 



Alcedo leucocephala Gmelin ( = Ramphalcyon capensis javana 

 [Boddaert]). 



Alcedo coromanda Latham ( = Entomothera coromanda [Latham]). 



Alcedo chlorocephala Gmelin ( = Sauropatis chloris [Boddaert]). 



Alcedo sacra Gmelin ( = Sauropatis sacra [Gmelin]). 



Alcedo melanoptera Horsfield ( = Entomothera melanoptera [Hors- 

 field]). 



It is evident from the above that u Entomoiherae^ is only a 

 plural group term, and therefore uncitable as a generic name. The 

 next year, however, Horsfield again refers to the matter, 1 this time 

 applying the name Entomothera to the group previously designated 

 by him as " Entomotherae." The generic name Entomothera thus 

 becomes available, but dates from the later place of publication. 1 



1 Horsfield, Zoological Researches in Java and the Neighbouring Islands, 1822 (text to Alcedo Uru). 



3 Sharpe, Monograph Alcedin., vol. 1, 1871, p. xiii. 



a Trans. Linn. Soc. London, vol. 13, pt. 1, May, 1821, p. 173. 



