﻿CERYLE 



(CHILIAN 



STELLATA. 



KINGFISHER.) 



Alcedo stella t a 

 Ceryle stella ta 

 Megaceryle stella ta 

 Streptoceryle stellata 

 Chloroceryle stellata 

 Alcedo torquata . 

 Ceryle torquata . 



Meyen, Obs. Zool. p. 93, t. xiv (1834). 

 Licht. Nomencl. Av. p. 67 (1854). 



Eeicli. Handb. Alced. p. 24, t. ccccxviii, fig. 3487 (1851). 



Cab. and Heine, Mus. Hein. tb. II, p. 151 (1860). 



Scl. Cat. Am. Birds, p. 264 (1862). 



Tscb. Consp. p. 39. 



Fras. P. Z. S. 1843, p. 110. 



C. sexibus dissimilibus : minor : dorso clare scbistaeeo, albo stellato : abdomine rufo 

 maris absente. 



Hah. in parte meridionali regionis Neotropicae. 



torque pectorali 



Above slaty-blue, the feathers of the crest marked longitudinally with broad black 

 shaft-stripes ; back also marked with dark stripes and profusely spotted with white ; quills 

 and tail black, externally margined with slaty-blue and banded with white ; throat and 

 sides of the neck extending backwarks and forming a nuchal collar, white ; upper part of the 

 breast slaty-blue, with rufous markings on some of the feathers ; below this slaty band a 

 narrow one of white ; rest of the under surface of the body rufous, with a few grev and 

 white barrings on the flanks and under tail-coverts : bill and feet blackish. Total length 

 15 5 inches, of bill from front 2*15, from gape 3*2, wing 7*3, tail 4-3, tarsus 0*4, middle toe 

 0-9, hind toe 0-25. 



Hah. Chili (Meyen, Gay), Port Otway and Port Galant, Straits of Magellan (Cun- 

 ningham). 



I have thought it best not to give a figure of this species, as at present I am by no 

 means certain that it has claims to distinct specific rank. Some of the differences adduced 

 by Meyen, the original describer, depend on the relative age of the bird, and the only charac- 

 ters of importance are the spotted back and shorter bill. I have seen several specimens 

 of Ceryle stellata, but as yet have not had the good fortune to meet with an adult male, but 

 all the birds examined have certainly had spotted backs and smaller bills than ('. tor<jtiata. 

 I therefore keep the two species distinct on the supposition that future observation will 

 confirm the constancy of these characters. 



Additional references. — Alcedo stellata, Tscb. Faun. Peruan. p. 254 (1844); Burm. tb. Bras. IT, p. 405, 

 note (1856). Ceryle stellata, Pelz. Voy. Nov. Yog. p. 50 (1865) ; Sclater, 1'. Z. S. 1867, pp. 327, 338 ; Sc l. & 

 Salv. Ibis, 1868, p. 187, id. 1869, p. 283 ; Gray, Iland-bst of B. p. 97 (1869). Alcedo torquata, Bridges, P. Z. S. 

 1841, p. 84; Gay, Faun. Cbil. p. 270 (1847). 



