THE ANNALS 



AND 



MAGAZINE OF NATURAL HISTORY. 



No. 60. AUGUST 1842. 



XLVI. — On the rediscovery of Halcyon smyrnensis {Linn.) in 

 Asia Minor. By H. E. Strickland, M.A., F.G.S., &c* 



Albin, in his f Natural History of Birds/ published about a 

 century ago, describes a bird under the name of the " Smyrna 

 Kingfisher," and gives a figure of it (vol. iii. pi. 27.) from a 

 specimen preserved in spirit, which he states was shot by 

 Consul Sherard " in a river of Smyrna/' This species, to 

 which Linnaeus gave the name of Alcedo smyrnensis, has been 

 retained ever since in our catalogues, though from the time 

 of Sherard to the present day no further evidence has been 

 adduced, as far as I am aware, of its occurrence on the coasts 

 of the Mediterranean. The succeeding plate (vol. iii. pi. 28.) 

 of Albin's work gives, under the name of " the Great Bengal 

 Kingfisher," an indifferent representation of a well-known 

 Indian bird which was afterwards more correctly depicted by 

 Buffon in his e Planches Enluminees,' No. 894. This bird, 

 being evidently closely allied to Albin's "Smyrna Kingfisher," 

 was classed as a variety of it by Gmelin and Latham, and 

 stands as Alcedo smyrnensis <y. in their catalogues. Later 

 writers on Indian ornithology agree in terming this bird 

 (which appears to be common throughout India from Ceylon 

 to Assam) Halcyon smyrnensis, thus implying a belief of its 

 specific identity with the " Smyrna kingfisher" of Albin. 

 But as Albin's figure presented certain differences from the 

 Indian birds, and as no specimens from the Mediterranean 

 shores were at hand for comparison, it was impossible to de- 

 cide this point with certainty, and it seemed probable that 

 the species from India might prove to be distinct, and might 

 thus require a new appellation. 



The differences in question were these : the adult Indian 

 bird has the lesser wing-covers rufous, the middle ones black, 

 and the greater, together with the quills, back and tail, bright 



* Read at the British Association at Manchester, and communicated by 

 the Author. 



Ann. Mag. N. Hist. Vol. ix. 2 G 



