﻿ALCYONE A Z U E E A . 



(AZURE KINGFISHER.) 



Azure Kingfisher, Lath. Syn. Suppl. p. 372 (1790). 



Alcedo azurea, Lath. Ind. Orn. Suppl. II, p. xxxii (1801). 



Ceyx azurea, Steph. Gen. Zool. XIII, p. 106 (182G). 



Alcyone azurea, Gray, Gen. of B. I, p. 82 (1846). 



Alcedo tribrachys, Shaw and Nodd. Nat. Misc. pi. 281 (1804). 



Ceyx tribrachys, ...... Cuv. Kegn. Anim. I, p. 417 (1817). 



Ceyx cyanea, . . . . ... . Less. Traite d'Orn. p. 241 (1831). 



Alcedo australis, ...... Swains. Classif. of B. II, p. 336 (1837). 



A. rostro tenuiore, longiore : pileo haud fasciato : hypochondrias riafis. 

 Hab. in Australasia. 



Above bright ultramarine ; wing-coverts blackish, edged with ultramarine ; quills 

 blackish, the inner web light rufous at the base, the secondaries externally edged with faint 

 blue ; tail deep ultramarine above, black beneath ; a loral spot pale rufous ; throat and a 

 longitudinal patch of feathers along the sides of the neck, white tinged with orange ; cheeks, 

 ear-coverts, and sides of the upper part of the breast, bright ultramarine ; rest of the under 

 surface of the body rufous, with a lilac lustre on the flanks and under tail-coverts; bill 

 black; feet red. 



Hab. Australia. New South Wales and Southern Australia {Gould) ; Cape York 

 {Cocker ell and Thorpe); Queensland (Mus. R. B. S). 



This species of Alcyone is the most common and widely distributed of the whole genus. 

 It is found generally throughout Australia, being, however, replaced on the Northern 

 Coast by A.pulclira, and in Tasmania by A. diemensis, both of which I consider to be distinct 

 species. 



The subjoined account of this species is extracted from Mr. Gould's "Handbook." 

 " With the exception of Swan River, every colony of Australia, from Port Essington 

 on the North West to Tasmania in the extreme south, is inhabited by Azure Kingfishers : 



Additional references.— Alcedo azurea, Swains. Zool. Illustr. 1st ser. pi. 26 (1820); Schl. Mais. Bays 

 Bas Alced. p. 17 (1863). Ceyx azurea, Jard. and Selby, 111. Orn. II, pi. 55, fig. 1. Alcyone azurea, Gould, B. 

 of Austr. II, pi. 25 (1848); id. Intr. B. of Aaastr. p. 31 (1818); Gray, Cat. Fiss. Bait. Mus. p. 65 (1848); 

 Blyth, Cat. B. Mus. As. Soc. Beng. p. 50 (1849); Bonap. Consp. Gen. Av. I, p. 158 (1850); Reich, Vog< 

 Neuh. p. 278 (1850); id. Handb. Alced. p. 7, t. 397, tig. 3004-65 (1851); Cass. Cat. Hal. . Phfl. Mus. p. 5 

 (1852) ; Macgill. Voy. Eattl. II, p. 356 (1852) ; Bonap. Consp. Vol. Anis. p. 10 (1854) ; Pelz. Voy. Novum, p. 

 58 (1865) ; Gould, Handb. B. of Austr. I, p. 139 (1865); Sharpe, P. Z. S. 1869, p. 355. 



