﻿iv 



CLASSIFICATION. 



motionless watching for their prey, to dart after it and seize it on the wing and to return to 

 their original position to swallow it. The groups which possess these peculiarities in the 

 greatest perfection are the Trogons and the Kingfishers." To this excellent definition I 

 may add that the Alcedinidae nest in holes and lay white eggs. It is, however, to be re- 

 marked that, in accordance with a modification of the habits of the various genera, a corre- 

 sponding modification has taken place in the mode of nidification, the piscivorous section of 

 the family nesting for the most part in holes in the banks of streams, while the insectivorous 

 section of the family generally nest in the holes of trees, not necessarily in the vicinity of 

 water. My friend M. Jules Verreaux, who has had in Africa opportunities of observing the 

 breeding-habits of the Wood Kingfishers (Halcyon, Ispidina, &c), tells me that these birds 

 nest in holes already formed in the trees, or in rotten wood. Sometimes they enlarge the 

 hole and eject the debris; this, however, is often left to form a platform for the eggs. 

 They do not, as a rule, lay as many eggs as the true Kingfishers, two or three being the 

 average number. 



I propose to divide the family Alcedinidce into two subfamilies, which present recognizable 

 structural peculiarities. Naturally they might be divided into three, viz. : — 



1. Alcedinince (sc. Piscivores) — being those Kingfishers which feed principally on fish, and 

 seldom or never touch insects &c. 



2. Halcyonince (sc. Omnivores) — being those Kingfishers whose food is of a mixed cha- 

 racter, and which, subsisting partly on fish, also devour great quantities of insect food, 

 beside Crustacea, Lizards, &c. The Halcyons, which are the most typical representatives 

 of this subfamily, are most plentiful in the ^Ethiopian region, and M. Jules Verreaux again 

 favours me with a note concerning their habits as observed by him in Africa : — 



"Wood Kingfishers (Ilalcyones) generally feed on insects in mimosa trees and dry forests; 

 but when the supply is scanty, they turn their attention to lizards. Should this food also 

 fail, they will frequent the water and fish like a true Alcedo. Sometimes they will hover, as 

 if to inspect the water beneath them, remaining in the air for some time, but not so long as 

 a true Kingfisher, and then, returning to their perch, they will sit for hours scarcely moving, 

 till a passing fish is secured by an active plunge. A curious fact also is, that when they are 

 in the bush there are generally seven or eight in close proximity, but when they go to the 

 water they keep separate, each by itself. These Kingfishers, when they frequent the water 

 or the sea-shore, eat Crustacea or small shell-fish, which they hold between their feet, and 

 breaking the shell by repeated blows of their bill, throw the latter away and devour the 

 animal." 



?>. Dacelonimv (sc. Keptilivores) — being those Kingfishers whose food consists for the most 

 part of lteptiles, Crustacea, &c, and which seldom or never touch fish. 



I find, however, that though the natural relation of these three subfamilies to one another 

 is tolerably well defined, yet tangible characters for the separation of the two latter are 

 wanting; and from the nature of the principles which I have always endeavoured to set 

 before me (namely, of only recognizing structural and definable characters) I am compelled 

 to merge these two subfamilies into one, for which I prefer to retain the name Dacelonince. 



