﻿xliv 



CONCLUDING REMARKS. 



gifted with facilities for locomotion and for obtaining food ; and their nearest affinities lie in 

 the direction of the Kingfishers." 



Moreover Professor Huxley, in his celebrated paper on the Classification of Birds (P. Z. S. 

 18G7, p. 415), also places the Hornbills in the same group as the Kingfishers; and thus 

 from two opposite points of observation their affinity is allowed. I think that, keeping 

 the peculiar habits of each family in view, we may agree entirely with Mr. Wallace in con- 

 sidering the Bucerotidce to be the nearest relations of the Alcedinidce iioav existing. It is 

 probable that they were once still more closely connected, and that some of the links have 

 become extinct ; but, be that as it may, I take the genera Dacelo and Melidora (which, as 

 will be seen by the Plate of Generic Characters, is only an exaggerated form of Dacelo) to be 

 the extreme limit of the Alcedinine type now known, and that the peculiarities of these 

 genera point them out as more nearly allied to the Hornbills than to any other living birds. 

 We may suppose also that they are the most ancient form of Kingfisher extant ; for it is 

 certain that Alcedo, which is one of the genera furthest removed in outward appearance 

 from Melidora, is the most specialized type of the family Alcedinidce, and therefore belongs 

 to a more recent development. Let any one carefully examine the various forms of King- 

 fishers in the present ' Monograph,' beginning with Melidora, and he cannot but be struck 

 with the peculiar bill exhibited by that bird — stout, broad, hooked, and formed for the 

 capture of insects, lizards, or snakes. Then let him suddenly turn to the beginning of the 

 work and examine Alcedo ispida. This type of Kingfisher is exactly the opposite to what 

 he before beheld : the stout depressed beak, the hooked maxilla, and the long tail are all 

 gone ; and instead there is a bird with a long, narrow, pointed bill, and a short stumpy tail, 

 both characters admirably adapted for the manner in which it gains its food — the pointed 

 bill formed for cleaving the water, and the short tail to act as a rudder to guide the fisher 

 m its downward plunge. Turning once more to Melidora we seek the links which may 

 s f ill be left us on the globe whereby to connect forms apparently so different, and at 

 once we seize upon Cittura as the nearest approach to this extreme form ; for here is also 

 seen the grooved bill, although the maxillary hook is absent. I think any one examining 

 specimens of the genera Melidora and Cittura will readily admit that they are closely allied ; 

 and again we notice that the two last-named genera, along with Dacelo and Carcineutes, 

 possess one structural character in common ; and that is, a certain tendency to a small 

 notch on the commissure near the base of the maxilla. This peculiarity is only slightly 

 visible in Dacelo, more in Melidora and Cittura, and most in Carcineutes, forming, in this 

 genus, a character of primary importance. This fact, small as it is, serves to connect these 

 four genera together ; but while Cittura and Melidora are certainly closely allied, and in the 

 same way Dacelo and Carcineutes, the latter have very little else in common with the former, 

 and though apparently modelled on the same type, the links are wanting for closer con- 

 nexion. It will be remembered that at the outset of this Introduction I stated that the 

 Kingfishers might be naturally divided into three subfamilies, Piscivorous, Omnivorous, and 

 Reptilivorous Kingfishers. It is with the third or last named of these groups that we are 

 now dealing ; and besides the four genera I have mentioned, I think that three other genera 



