1842.] Asiatic Society. Ill 



Alcedo (subgenus Ceryle, Boie, 1828,) rudis, Lin. ; Ispida bicincta, Swainson, Nat. 

 Lib., Orn., viii. S5. " When we find all authors," writes Mr. Swainson, " affirming 

 that the black and white Kingfisher ' inhabits various regions, both of Asia and Africa, 

 Egypt, Persia, Senegal and the Cape of Good Hope — that it varies both in size and in 

 the particular mixture of its coloui-s,' it is impossible not to conclude that more than 

 one species is confounded under the common name of Alcedo rudis, and that in all 

 probability this mixture of black and white in the plumage, instead of being the cha- 

 racter of a species, more probably belongs to a small division of the genus. The bird 

 now before us," he continues, " affords at least a confirmation, in one instance, of 

 such a supposition. All writers (see particularly Edwards, i. pi. ix., Buffon, Edit. 

 Sonnini, xx, 192, and PI. Col. 716,) agree in stating, that the true Alcedo rudis of the 

 Cape of Good Hope has but one black belt on the breast, whereas the species now be- 

 fore me has two ; when, therefore, we find so strong a specific distinction between birds 

 inhabiting two localities so comparatively near to each other as Senegal and the Cape, 

 we may fairly conclude that the other black and white Kingfishers, of regions vastly 

 more distant, will eventually prove to be equally distinct." The truth happens to be, that 

 the double-banded is merely the male, and the single-banded the female, of this 

 widely diffused species, which is included among the birds of Europe by Mr. Gould, 

 as an inhabitant of its south-eastern border. It is of frequent occurrence in Bengal, 

 and follows the whole course of the Ganges to the foot of the Himalaya. Dr. McClelland 

 met with it in Assam, and it is included in the catalogue of birds procured by Dr. 

 Royle at Saharunpore and in the Himalayas, as an inhabitant of the plain country. 

 It is also plentiful about Rangoon. Mr. Jerdon states it to be "common all over In- 

 dia, frequenting brooks, rivers, and tanks : unlike the other Kingfishers," he adds, 

 " which watch their prey from a fixed station and then dart down obliquely on it, the 

 Spotted Kingfisher searches for its prey on the wing, hovering over a piece of water 

 like some of the Terns, and then darting down perpendicularly on it." {Mad. Jour. xi. 

 232). So, indeed, does the common British Kingfisher (A. ispida), very commonly, 

 and doubtless, also, its Indian near ally (A. Bengalensis,) at least occasionally, though 

 I have never observed this of it. Mr. Strickland, again, who remarked the A. rudis 

 in Syria, informs us, that " it may be often seen in the salt-water marshes west of 

 Smyrna :" there, however, " it never seems to follow the rivers, but always remains 

 near the coast. It sometimes hovers for several minutes about ten feet above the 

 water, and then drops perpendicularly on its prey" {P. Z. S. 1836, 100). Such are pre- 

 cisely its habits in Bengal ; and it may not unfrequently be seen resting on the bank, 

 and jerking its tail at intervals. Together with the large Himalayan A. guttatus, this 

 species appertains to a well marked subdivision of true Kingfishers (the Ceryle, Boie, 

 ox Ispida, Sw.), generally characterized by large size, chiefly black and white plumage, 

 and considerably longer wings and tail than in the subgroup exemplified by A. ispida, 

 Bengalensis, semitorquatus (Sw.), &c. ; hence they might be expected to seek their 

 prey more on the wing, conformably with the foregoing observations. It is remarkable 

 that thi r -"bgenus is the only one not only of the family Halcyonidce, but of a larger 

 natural group comprising the latter, which is represented by species in the New World. 

 The males of A. rudis vary in the developement or breadth of the second pectoral 

 band, and in the quantity of spotting in front of the neck, above the first band, which 

 latter is sometimes interrupted in the middle, as it generally is in the females ; these 



