ALCBDINID^ HALCYON 91 



Vley and Hykomkop in Damaraland (Andersson) ; Portuguese east 

 Africa — Zambesi valley (Kirk) . 



Birds of this species from Senegambia and Somaliland are rather 

 smaller, have shorter bills, and are generally somewhat more richly 

 coloured ; while specimens from tropical Africa are intermediate in 

 this respect. Should it be necessary to distinguish the South 

 African bird, it may be called Halcyon chelicuti damarensis. 



Habits. — Like others of the same genus this bird is by no means 

 confined to the neighbourhood of water ; it is found equally on the 

 sea coast, along the rivers, and in the plains and bush. It is 

 usually solitary, and perches on a low branch of an isolated 

 tree, keeping a look out for beetles and grasshoppers which it takes 

 on the wing, and which form the chief part of its diet. This bird 

 is stated by Kirk to have a sweet song both before and during the 

 rains, and Ayres and the Woodwards confirm this. No observer 

 in South Africa has given an account of its breeding habits, but 

 Bohm found a nest in German east Africa on March 21 placed 

 in a hole in a tree 15 feet above the ground. The entrance 

 was very narrow, and the hole only about 9 inches deep ; at the 

 bottom were two nearly hatched young and an addled egg, the 

 latter white, and measuring 1-0 X 63. It would be interesting 

 to be able to confirm this account, as it is quite unusual for 

 Kingfishers to build in trees. 



421. Halcyon cyanoleucus. Angola Kingfisher. 



Alcedo cyanoleuca, Vieill. N. Diet. H. N. xix, p. 401 (1818). 



Halcyon senegalensis {nee Linn.), Gurney, Ibis, 1865, p. 265 [Zulu- 

 land] ; Layard, B. Afr. p. 62 (1867). 



Halcyon cyanoleucus, Gurney, Ibis, 1868, p. 265 ; Sharpe, Monogr. 

 Aleecl. p. 189, pi. 69 (1869) ; Gurney, in Andersson's B. Damara- 

 land, p. 56 (1872) ; Buckley, Ibis, 1874, p. 365 ; Sharpe, ed. Lod/ard's 

 B. S. Afr. pp. 120, 808 (1875-84) ; Dates, Maiabeleland, p. 303 

 (1881) ; Sharpe, Cat. B. M. xvii, p. 245 (1892) ; Shelley, B. Afr. i, 

 p. 117 (1896) ; Sharpe, Ibis, 1897, p. 498 [Zululand] ; Woodward 

 Bros. Natal B. p. 94 (1899). 



Description. Adult. — General colour above, bright cobalt-blue, 

 the crown of the head rather duller and more greenish ; a white 

 eyebrow above the eye ; feathers in front and behind the eye black ; 

 all the wing-coverts black ; wing-quills black with concealed white 

 bases and cobalt-blue edging, the latter becoming wider and more 



