﻿CLASSIFICATION. 



a". Gertis, regionc parotica et collo postico nigris. 



a"'. Rectricibus exterioribus nigris, cseruleo marginatis ... 7. hydrocharis. 

 b'". Rectricibus exterioribus albis, caeruleo marginatis .... 8. acts, 

 b". Gems, regione parotica et collo postico saturate caeruleis. 

 a'". Pileo ultramariuo : superciliis cum nucha cyaneis : tectrici- 



bus caudalibus postremis nigris 9. margaretha. 



b'". Pileo concolori : tectricibus caudalibus omnino albis. 



a"". Dorso cyaueo maculato 10. nais. 



b"". Dorso concolori 11. galatea. 



c". Geuis, regionc parotica et collo postico viridi-cyaneis . . . .12. riedeli. 



It is to be regretted that the Alcedo dea of Linnaeus, the type of this genus, is not 

 recognizable ; and I have therefore left the name out of the question as tending only to 

 confuse. The locality given by Seba and the older authors as the habitat, Ternate, is now 

 known not to contain a species of Tanysiptera. Professor Schlegel and I differ in our 

 estimate of the value of the species recognized by me, as he is inclined to consider them 

 variations of one type, while I regard them as good species, seeing that the characters of 

 each are permanent, and the geographical range of each peculiar to the species itself. 



Genus 18. Cittuka. 



Type. 



Citlura, Kaup, Fam. Eisv. p. 8 (1848) C. cyanotis. 



Clavis specierum. 



a. Plumis supcrciliaribus pallide lilaciuo-rubentibus 1. cyanotis. 



b. Plumis supcrciliaribus albo terminatis 2. sanghirensis. 



The genus Cittura has a remarkable bill, which is grooved along the culmen, as repre- 

 presented in the Plate (fig. 1C). Whether the beautiful C. sanghirensis is really a distinct 

 species, or whether it is only the breeding-plumage of the ordinary C. cyanotis, remains to 

 be seen ; but that it is not confined to Sanghir is certain, from the fact of my having 

 received it from Celebes on two different occasions. Mr. Renesse van Duivenbode also sent 

 me a note to say that C. cyanotis varied much with the season of the year. Against the 

 probability of the two species being identical must be mentioned the larger bill, black 

 forehead, and white-tipped eyebrow, all of them conspicuous characters in C. sanghirensis. 



Genus 19. Melidora. 



Type. 



Melidora, Less. Traite d'Oru. p. 2-19 (1831) M. macrorhyncha. 



Species unica. 

 M. murrorhyncha (Less. Voy. Coq. i. p. 692). 



In this genus w e have the extreme type of the Daceloninae ; and we have seen the bill, as 

 the birds became more and more insectivorous, gradually go through various modifications, 

 becoming more and more depressed, until in the present genus the groove, which was appa- 



