﻿CERYLE LUGUBRIS. 



(JAPANESE SPOTTED KINGFISHER.) 



Alcedo lugubris .... Temra. PI. Col. 548 (1834). 



„ „ , Schl. Mus. Pays Bas, Alced. p. 2 (1863). 



Alcedo (Ceryle) lugubris . . . Temra. and Schl. Faun. Jap. Av. p. 77, pi. 38 P> (1850). 



Ceryle lugubris .... Bonap. Consp. Gen. I. p. 160 (1850). 



„ „ .... Keich. Handb. Alced. p. 22, t. ccccviii, fig. 3099-3100 (1851). 



„ .... Swinh. P.Z.S. 1863, p. 333. 



Megaceryle lugubris .... Bonap. Consp. Vol. Anis. p. 10 (1854). 



„ „ .... Cab. and Heine, Mus. Hein. th. II. p. 149 (1850). 



C. sexibus simillibus : dorso fusco, nigro et albo transfasciato : major : rostro magis compresso. 

 Hab. in insulis Japonicis. 



Head with a largely- developed crest, the feathers of which for the most part are black, 

 spotted and waved with white, a few (especially in the centre of the crest) pure white, and 

 a few white with only an occasional black spot ; lores, cheeks, eye-brows and ear-coverts 

 black variegated with white ; a broad band of feathers commencing at the base of the lower 

 mandible and encircling the neck, pure white, below this a narrow line of feathers becom- 

 ing broader as it approaches the side of the neck, white variegated with black and tinged 

 with tawny; back and scapularies fuscous-grey banded and spotted with white, a little paler 

 on the lower part of the back ; quills and tail dusky black, spotted and banded with white, 

 especially on the inner web; under-surface of the body white, the upper part of the breast 

 and flanks with more or less distinct black bars ; under wing- and tail-coverts pure white 

 with a black spot here and there ; bill dark horn colour ; feet olive-brown. Total length 

 16 inches, of bill from front 2.3, from gape 3.0, wing 7.6, tail 4.7, tarsus 0.3, middle toe 

 0.9, hind toe 0.2. 



Hab. Japan (Siebold), Nagasaki (Whitely). 



It is in deference to the high authority of Professor Schlegel and his predecessor Prof. 

 Temminck, that I am induced to consider the present bird distinct from the Himalayan 

 species. The only difference adduced by Professor Schlegel between them is the slightly 

 larger size and more compressed beak of the Japanese bird, and I leave it to the considera- 

 tion of Ornithologists whether these characters are sufficient to indicate anything more than 



