JACAMEEOPS. 509 



Lye. N. H. vii. p. 291"; Scl. & Salv. P. Z. S. 1864, p. 363 ''; Zeledon, An. Mus. Nac. 

 Costa Kica, 1887, p. 119'; Scl. Mon. Jacamars and Puff-birds, p. 57, t. 18"; Cat. Birds 

 Brit. Mus. xix. p. 176 ". 



Supra nitide aureo-viridis, interscapulio oupreo nitens ; pileo antico, capitis lateribus et gula antica paulo 

 cyanescentioribus, gutture plaga oonspicua mediana alba, corpore reliquo subtus castaneo ; alarum remigibus 

 nigris, seoundariis internis et tectricibus dorso concoloribus ; cauda chalybeo-nigra, supra extrorsum dorso 

 paulo oyanescentiore ; rostro nigro, pedibus fuscis. Long, tota 10-7, alse 4-3, caudse rectr. med. 5-6, rectr. 

 lafc. 2-5, roatri a rictu 2-1, tarsi 0-5. 



$ mari similis, plaga guttural! alba nulla et corpore subtus dilutiore castaneo. (Descr. maris ex Chepo, 

 feminee ex Lion Hill, Panama. Mus. nostr.) 



Hab. Costa Eica, Jimenez {Zeledon ^) ; Panama, Veraguas (Arce), Lion Hill [M'Lean- 

 nan ^ '^), Chepo (Arce), Truando R. (C. J. Wood S).— Sodth Amekica, from Colombia 

 to Peru, Amazons Valley, and Guiana ^ ^'^. 



Jacamerops aurea has long been known, having been described by Vosmaer in 1768 

 as a " long-tailed Kingfisher with two fingers turned forwards and two behind," from a 

 specimen in the Prince of Orange's collection from the Dutch plantation of Berbice. 

 This, in 1776, became the Alcedo aurea of P. L. S. Miiller ^, which, as Mr. Sclater 

 fully admits, is undoubtedly its oldest title. He, however, follows custom in using 

 Gmelin's name o{ Alcedo grandis given in 1788 ^. We should prefer to do the same, 

 but the law of priority gives no escape on the plea of uncertainty. Moreover, the 

 name Jacamerops aurea is certainly preferable on other grounds, were they of any 

 weight. 



The range of Jacamerops aurea extends over nearly the whole of the northern part 

 of Tropical America from Guiana and the Amazons Valley to the base of the Andes, to 

 Colombia and the State of Panama. Schomburgk, and subsequently Whitely, found 

 it generally distributed in British Guiana; and the former traveller says that it is 

 usually met with as solitary individuals or in pairs, preferring trees on the banks of 

 streams to more open places in the forest. They here watch for passing insects, which 

 they catch on the wing and return to their position. They often remain almost 

 motionless for hours without stirring a feather. According to Schomburgk they are 

 said to breed in Ijoles in banks like Galbula viridis; but Mr. E. Bartlett, who observed 

 the bird at Chamicurros and Santa Cruz in Eastern Peru, was informed that stumps of 

 old trees were also employed for this purpose. 



In Colombia J. aurea seems to be generally distributed in suitable forests. It 

 occasionally comes within the grasp of the bird-hunters of Bogota, but whether they 

 meet with it on the eastern or western side of the Cordillera of Bogota has not yet 

 been made sure. It certainly occurs in the Cauca Valley, as Salmon secured specimens 

 during his residence in that district. Approaching our fauna, it occurs on the Truando 

 river, where the naturalists of Lieut. Michler's Darien Expedition found it, and 

 record that it sits in a tree and darts after insects like a Flycatcher ^. From the 

 Isthmus of Panama, Arce sent us a specimen from Chepo, and M'Leannan many from 



