74 RUDOLF SÖDERBERG, STUDIES OF THE BIRDS IN NORTH WEST AUSTRALIA. 
lebes, the Moluccas, the Great and the Small WSunda-Islands. It looks as if H. 
maclaeyi were not capable of going outside the northern warmer tropical rainy re- 
gions, whereas H. sanctus has extended the area of its distribution over colder belts 
as well. 
Ecological. — Halcyon sanctus was rather common at Nooncanbah (Fitzroy 
river), Mowla Downs and Sunday Island; at other places it was not common. At 
the latter locality I have found it almost without exception in the mangroves on 
the shore of the island. Otherwise the bird liked to live at »billabongs» and creeks 
where I often saw it diving. At Mowla Downs on the I8th of Nov. (1910) I found 
the nest of this kingfisher in a wall of a mountain. It was situated 2 dm. in the 
wall, in a hollow. 'The nest was only made of a lot of small bones of lizards. There 
was also a lizard, 1'/2 dm. long, in the nest. The young birds had a curious buzzing 
cry. On the 1l5th of Dec. I found another nest at a »billabong>, this time built 
in a hollow tree. The bird had partly closed up the entrance in order to get better 
protection for the eggs. It was built with earth mixed with sand, which had been 
made into a very hard mortar. In the nest 5 white eggs were found. The birds 
flew anxiously around the place screaming loudly. 
Dacelo cervina GouLpD. 
Math. handl. n:r 388. 2 99 ad. Derby, Kimb. 15/;0 1910, one with brooding-spot; 4 SJS ad. Noon- 
canbah, "ibid. ”/12, "”/1i2 TOLO, the. latter moult.s, -/t i LOT, moult.; 2 fre ad.,fibidsk sk TRON 
the latter moult.; 3 SI ad. Meda, Kimb. ?/5, ?/s, 11/5 1911; 2 20 ad., ibid. 3/1, "11911; JVadj PL ad? Broome, 
Dampier 1. !7/6, 1/6 1911; 2 ad., J juv. Beagle bay, ibid. ?/1, !9/7 1911. 
Juvenals. — The male juvenal '”/É€ has its plumage in general darker than the 
adults. The feathers of the crown of the head are brown-edged, the light collar 
thickly watered with brown, especially at the upper part. The lower part, which is 
(clear) fulvous, except for the dingy white throat and the chin, is covered all over 
with distinct zig-zag lines of brown, which are much more conspicuous than in adult 
birds. The feathers in the middle of the tail are dark-blue, except at the top, where 
they are rufous, barred with dark-blue like the other feathers. (N. B. cf. below for 
the change of colours.) 
Variants. — The fulvous colour may be darker or lighter and the watering 
in it also varies. One specimen is entirely without this watering, except for a very 
slight tinge on the sides of body. The lower third of the tail is brownish (3 ad.). 
One specimen from ?/s is varied by having blue in the edgings of the dark-brown feathers 
of the back, which can also be traced as a slight tinge running upwards in the 
middle of the back part. For the rest different birds have white parts of different 
sizes on the feathers of the crown of the head; in adult birds these parts are some- 
times rather small, but sometimes they occupy nearly half the feather. The size of 
the bill varies, the difference of the length is 1,5 cm., but the thickness at the 
corner of the mouth does not vary more than 2 mm. 
