;•:- 



98 



I examined a series of fourteen specimens of Halcyon vagans in the Liverpool Museum, 

 including the type of Halcyon norfolMensis, Tristram (' Ibis,' 1885, p. 49).* These examples 

 came from Wellington, New Zealand, and from Norfolk Island. I am unable to recognise any 

 specific difference in the birds from these separate localities. 



Of the closely related Halcyon sanctus there are forty specimens in the collection from 

 different parts of Australia, and these are readily distinguishable from our bird by their 

 smaller size. H. sacer, from Tonga and the Fiji Islands, appears to be distinct, and possibly 

 H. sordidus also, from North Australia. 



Order COCCYGES.! 



LFamily CUCULIDZE. 



TTRODYNAMIS TAITENSIS. 



(LONG-TAILED CUCKOO.) 



Eudynamis taitensis (Sparrm.), Buller, Birds of New Zealand, vol. i., p. 127, 



In the early days of spring the piercing far-off cry of the Koheperoa strikes upon the ear with a 

 strange effect. Its very suddenness is exhilarating, and the announcement to all is clear and 

 decisive that the warmth of summer is at hand. The bird is always heard before it is seen, 

 and the familiar sound at once recalls the elegant form of this annual visitant, with its 



* Canon Tristram writes (he. cit., p. 49), in relation to this Kingfisher : " The Halcyon of Norfolk Island appears 

 to me to be decidedly distinct. I have before me a large series of all the known species of the group. In dimensions 

 it is rather larger than most of the other species, its wing measuring 3-9 in. as against 3*6 in H. sancta, H. solomonis, 

 Ramsay, and H. sacra, 37 in H. vagans and H. julice, 4-1 in H. chloris and H. occipitalis, and 4-2 in H. tristmmL 

 The frontal buffy-white spot does not, as in all the other species, except H. solomonis, extend further than the angle 

 of the eye, so that the light eyebrow is entirely wanting. The under wing-coverts are light buff, as in H. sancta, to 

 which in general coloration it approaches most closely, except that the green of the head and back is decidedly 

 duller, though not nearly so dark as in H. vagans. But its most characteristic distinction is the bill, which differs 

 markedly from that of all its congeners, both mandibles being extremely compressed, the culmen being slightly 

 recurved and the gonys still more so. The width of the bill at the nostrils is 03 in., while the nearest approach to 

 that is 0-4 in one specimen of H. sancta, all the other species varying from 0*45 to 0-55 in. in width at this point. 

 . . . . This description will, I think, justify the recognition of the bird under the name which Mr. Layard 

 proposes for it, of Halcyon norfolkiensis." 



Mr. Etheridge, on the contrary, in his account of the birds of Lord Howe Island, in the same group, declares that 

 the Kingfisher is identical with the New Zealand species, adding : " We were told it was a comparatively recent 

 addition to the avifauna of the island. It may constantly be seen flying about the small open places and clearings 

 along the shore, or perched on dead timber, or even seated on small rocks at and below tide-marks. It pairs in 

 October, or perhaps towards the end of September. Sir W. L. Buller's remarks on the habits of this bird can be very 

 appropriately applied to the variety found at Lord Howe." 



Mr. Moseley (in his « Notes by a Naturalist ' on the Challenger) says, at p. 278, that when in Wellington he observed 

 the Kingfishers in abundance perching on the telegraph wires and dashing down from thence upon their prey in the 

 shallow water of the harbour. He says it particularly interested him, because it was the first time he had seen a 

 Kingfisher leading a littoral existence and feeding on sea-fish. 



