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instance in which I know of its capture. Length, 6*12m. ; wing, 2'87in. Bill, black; 

 eye, black; legs and feet, indian red." 



Sir Robert Schomburgk found the present species in Siam, and has published the 

 accompanying note : — 



"Tins is a very pretty species of its kind, it is small — no more than 6 inches in length. 

 When on the wing, the brilliancy of its plumage is easily discerned ; less so when sitting. 

 It selects generally the dry branch of a tree close to the river's edge, and there it watches 

 its opportunity to dart into the water after the finny tribe, which, from its watch-tower, it 

 has observed near the surface of the river." 



Lastly, Mr. John Keast Lord, to whom belongs the honour of first introducing Alcedo 

 bengalensis as an Egyptian bird to the ornithological world, has very kindly given me the 

 following extracts from his note-book on the species, as observed by him in Egypt and on 

 the Sinai tic peninsula: — 



"I first noticed this handsome little Kingfisher quite close to Cairo in February, 1868. 

 I shot a male specimen at Shoobra, which is at this time in my possession. The habit of 

 A. bengalensis, so far as I have been able to observe it, is to frequent running streams in 

 preference to still Avater. I have frequently seen the Kingfisher, whilst flying or steadily 

 hovering close to the surface of the stream, make a sudden plunge after a fish, and on 

 coming up with the prize perch upon any available branch, stone, or log, to swallow it ; 

 and although it oftentimes sits in the same manner as A. ispida, upon a branch overhanging 

 the stream, waiting patiently for an opportunity to plunge after food, my own impression 

 is that A. bengalensis more often makes the dash into the water whilst on the wing than 

 from a branch or other fishing station. The only place I observed it fishing in what may 

 be called still water was in the canal close to the Cairo railway terminus, and I may truth- 

 fully say I have watched this Kingfisher actually fishing in the very midst of the busy traffic 

 of Cairo, and within a gunshot of the station from which all the trains running between 

 Cairo and Alexandria start or arrive as the case may be. Nevertheless, its favourite locality 

 is the swiftly-flowing stream near Shoobra." 



"In June, 1869, I for the second time noticed this Kingfisher at Shoobra, and hence I 

 think it may be fairly inferred that it breeds in Egypt. Twice I saw A. bengalensis on the 

 peninsula of Sinai and in Wady Hebra in June, and again at Tor in the same month; from 

 the latter place I have a specimen. At both these places, I may remark, there are running 

 streams and small fish in them." 



" A. ispida also occurs on the peninsula of Sinai as well as in Egypt. I have no posi- 

 tive proof to offer, nevertheless I am pretty confident that A. bengalensis, and probably A, 

 ispida, both breed at Tor and in Wady Hebra." 



In the Leiden Museum there is a specimen from Nubia, collected by Ruppell, with a 

 very long beak, equalling in this respect Mr. Lord's Cairo specimen. 



The figures and descriptions are from Bengal specimens in my collection. 



