﻿GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION. 



xxi 



rent in the culmen of Cittura, is here more strongly developed, while the apex of the bill 

 is furnished with a hook, which doubtless subserves some useful purpose in procuring food, 

 with which we are at present unacquainted. 



GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION. 



Genus 1. Alcedo. 

 Range of the Genus. 



Over the greater part of the Old World, but does not extend into the Australasian 

 Region proper — the furthest authentic range of an Alcedo being, so far as we know, into the 

 Austro-Malayan subregion to New Guinea. 



Range of the Species. 



1. Alcedo ispida. Over the whole of the Western Palsearctic Region, but of rarer occur- 

 rence in the north. Found in Northern Africa, and extends into Egypt and Palestine. Its 

 range to the east is undetermined; but it is probably replaced throughout the Eastern 

 Palaearctic Region from Persia and Central Asia, by the next species. 



2. Alcedo bengalensis. The representative of A. ispida, which it replaces in the east. It 

 has been found to the westward as far as North-eastern Africa, having been met with in 

 Egypt and the Sinaitic peninsula. Its eastern range extends over the whole of the Indian 

 Region and into the Eastern Palaearctic as far as Amoorland and Japan ; but its extent in 

 this quarter is not yet satisfactorily determined. It is also found distributed over the whole 

 of the Indo-Malayan and Indo-Chinese subregions, and extends into the Austro-Malayan as 

 far as Gilolo, where, however, it can only be a rare and occasional visitant. 



3. Alcedo grandis. The largest species of Alcedo yet discovered. As yet it has been only 

 obtained in the Terai, below Darjiling. 



4. Alcedo moluccensis. Although belonging to the same section of the genus Alcedo as 

 the foregoing, its nearest ally is Alcedo bengalensis, which it replaces in the Moluccas, where 

 it is generally distributed, though, as far as we yet know, it is confined to the Austro- 

 Malayan subregion*. 



5. Alcedo quadribrachys. Confined to the Ethiopian Region, principally to the west 

 coast, but has been known to occur in Natal once. Not yet met with in North-eastern 

 Africa. 



G. Alcedo asiatica. Generally distributed over the Indo-Malayan subregion, extending into 

 the eastern part of India proper, and also into Cochin China. Found likewise in Celebes. 



7. Alcedo semitorquata. Confined to the Ethiopian Region, over the whole of which it 

 is distributed, but is more common in South Africa. 



* The locality, " Florcs" (Wallace), given in my account of this species should bo expunged from the list of habitats, 

 as I afterwards discovered that the bird brought by Mr. Wallace from this island was not the true A. moluccaisis, but 

 the bright race of A. bemjalensis, named by Ucichenbach A. sondaica. 



* 



