135 



but he says (Ibis, 1866, p. 87) that he never found it beyond the limits of the Jordan valley. 

 Unlike the other peculiar species of the Ghor it occurs throughout the whole course of the 

 river ; and he met with it close to Banias, on the upper waters of the Jordan. Von Heuglin 

 includes it in his 'Orn. Nordost-Afr.' and says (p. 189), "its occurrence on the Red Sea appears 

 only to be accidental ; possibly it is commoner in the morasses and on the brooks along the 

 Gulf of Agabah, and I believe I saw it near Petra." He also adds that the specimen he 

 describes is from Tor, in Arabia Petrsea. 



To the eastward this Kingfisher is found as far as China. Captain Jones met with it in 

 Mesopotamia; and Mr. Blanford says that it appears to occur not unfrequently in Southern 

 Persia and Baluchistan, wherever trees are numerous ; and Major St. John in his notes, for the loan 

 of which I am indebted to Mr. Blanford, writes as follows : — " This Kingfisher is not uncommon 

 in Southern Persia, ascending to considerable altitudes. I have seen it in winter in the valley 

 of Dashtiarjan, 6500 feet above the sea. It is numerous in the swampy palm-groves of the 

 lower valleys, but does not appear to be so fond of gardens as in India. I have not noticed it 

 north of Shiraz in Persia, but it occurs in Mesopotamia." To this I may add that De Filippi 

 also obtained it from Shiraz. In India it is, according to Dr. Jerdon (B. of India, i. p. 225), 

 " abundant in most parts, and is found throughout the whole peninsula and Ceylon, up to the 

 base of the Himalayas, and extending throughout all the countries to the east as far as China." 

 It was obtained in the Andamans by Beavan; and Mr. Davison says (Stray Feathers, ii. p. 168) 

 that it is one of the commonest birds near Port Blair, in the Andamans ; but he did not notice 

 it at the Nicobars or at the Great or Little Cocos. To this, Mr. A. O. Hume adds that he saw a 

 few at Macpherson's Straits, but met with it nowhere else (except at Port Blair). Lord Walden 

 having remarked that the Andaman specimens in his collection were intenser in colour than 

 those from other parts of Asia, Mr. Hume proposes (/. c.) in case it should be desirable to 

 separate the Andaman form, to call it saturatior; but, at the same time that he proposes to 

 add another synonym, he expressly states that he himself would not separate it ; and in this I 

 fully agree with him, although in so doing I differ in opinion from so good an authority as my 

 late colleague Mr. Sharpe, to whom, Mr. Hume says (Stray Feathers, ii. p. 531), he has sub- 

 mitted specimens from the Andamans, and he is of opinion that the Andaman Halcyon is 

 distinct from smymensis. 



In Ceylon this bird is also said by Mr. Holdsworth (P. Z. S. 1872, p. 424) to be " abundant in 

 in the low country wherever there is water, frequenting alike the neighbourhood of paddy-fields 

 and the banks of rivers. It is perhaps less numerous in the north than elsewhere ; but it was 

 not uncommon at Aripo." In China, according to Mr. Swinhoe, it is common and resident from 

 Canton to the river Yangtsze ; and he also obtained it in Formosa and Hainan. 



In its habits this Kingfisher differs greatly from the Pied Kingfisher ; and unlike that species 

 it rarely feeds on fish, and seldom, if ever, dives into the water after fish. I have never had the 

 opportunity of seeing it alive ; but Mr. Danford, who has lately shot it in Asia Minor, informs 

 me that it is " a somewhat shy and solitary bird, fond of sitting for hours perched on an elevated 

 situation, and never exhibiting that beautiful habit of hovering which is so characteristic of 

 C. rudis, a species which is very common in the same districts." Dr. Jerdon states that it 

 " prefers a wooded country, but is not found in the thick forests, and is to be met with about 



