634 Birds m the Museum of the Asiatic Society. QNo. 1 16. 



Olive brown and green King-fisher with red bill. 



Weight 7J ounces. 



Size that of a common pigeon. 



Length, from the tip of the bill to the rump llj inches, ditto from 

 the tip of the bill to the tip of the tail 16 inches, ditto from ditto to the 

 mid- claw ISJ inches. 



Ditto from the base of the bill to the rump 8^ inches, breadth from 

 tip to tip of the wings 22 inches. 



Bill long and pointed ; flat, like all the Halcyons, at the top, from 

 the tip to the insertion of the fore-head 3 inches long, to the gape 3^ 

 inches ; circumference at the base 3 ^ inches, do.in the centre 1^^ inches, 

 colour bright red with black tip. Margin of the eye-lids bare, red under 

 eye-lid, furnished with a row of dingy olive brown feathers near the 

 margin, and below buff coloured ; iris dark red. Legs and feet bright 

 scarlet. Head, cheeks, and upper two- thirds of the back of the neck 

 dark olive brown ; throat pale straw colour, almost white ; breast, neck, 

 and lower third of the back of the neck buff, with the tip of each fea- 

 ther bounded by a narrow margin of the same olive brown colour as 

 the head, forming dotted crescent-like lines ; breast, belly, inner wing 

 coverts, thighs, and vent of a bright orange buff, upon a lighter 

 ground ; upper part of the neck, scapular, and lesser wing coverts 

 dark brownish green ; greater wing coverts, quills, sides of the lower 

 part of the back, upper tail coverts, and tail, dark greenish blue ; back 

 from the shoulders to the rump bright azure with silky feathers, shin- 

 ing like satin ; false wing of three feathers ; quills blue on the outer 

 side, and in the secondary a little blue towards the tips in the inner 

 side, with black shafts, and inner web of the latter edged for two-thirds 

 from the base with dirty white. 



The Gurial King-fisher has a laughing screaming note. It is the 

 largest Indian species known to the Curator. In the neighbourhood 

 of Calcutta it is common, and probably in the whole Delta of the 

 Ganges, or Sunderbunds, and Dr. M'Clelland brought specimens from 

 Assam. Its flight consists of short quick jerks, very vigorous, and 

 long continued. In fishing it does not hover ; but perches upon the high 

 bamboo bush, or on a middle-sized tree over a pool, waiting for its 

 prey, where its blood-red bill shines brightly in the sun, and its great 

 size, and violent plunge into the water, give one the idea of a noble bird. 



