226 BIRDS OF INDIA. 



It was long considered that this bird was identical with the species 

 found in Asia Minor, and named Smyrnensis by Linnceus ; but 

 Mr. Strickland, from specimens procured near Smyrna, showed 

 them to be distinct. Parties of Burmese occasionally visit India, to 

 procure the skins of this and other Kingfishers : they are, it appears, 

 in great request at the capital for the court dresses. Some are said 

 to be exported to China, where the feathers of this and others are 

 used as a foil to impart a rich color to glass ornaments. 



130. Halcyon Atricapillus, Gmel. 



Alcedo, apud Gmelin — Blyth, Cat. 204 — Horsf., Cat. 153 — 

 A. pileata, BoDD. — PI. Enl. 613 — Jerdon, 2nd Suppl, Cat. 

 245 bis— A. brama, Lesson. 



The Black-capped Purple Kingfisher. 



Descr. — Head, lores, face, ear-coverts, and nape, black ; whole 

 upper parts rich violet-purple, brighter on the back and rump ; wings 

 with the coverts, except those of the primaries, black ; quills 

 tipped black, with a white wing-bar on the inner webs (as in 

 fusca), and the inner webs of the rest black ; chin, throat, and neck 

 all round, white, with a tinge of fulvous ; the middle of the breast 

 and abdomen also white ; rest of the lower parts, including the 

 under wing-coverts, rich rusty. 



Length 12 inches; wing 5^; extent 19; tail 3^, exceeding 

 the wings by If inches ; bill at front 2|. 



Bill deep red ; legs red, with black marks ; eye brown. 



This fine Kingfisher is found but very rarely in India and 

 Ceylon. I once obtained a specimen, which I shot myself, at 

 TelHchery, on the Malabar coast ; and I have seen others from the 

 same locality. It is also rare in Bengal, but has been killed as hio-h 

 up the Ganges as Monghyr ; it is more common, however, in the 

 Sunderbuns, and on the Burmese coast, as far as the Malay 

 peninsula and islands, extending eastward to China. It appears to 

 prefer wooded countries near the sea, or mouths of large rivers. 

 It is said to feed both on fish and on insects, and has a harsh 

 crowin": call. 



