﻿PELARGOPSIS LEUCOCEPHALA. 



(BORNEAN STORK-BILLED KINGFISHER.) 



Martin-pecheur de Java .... Buff. PL Enl. 757. 



Alcedo javana Bodd, Tabl. PL Enl. p. 757 (1813, ex Buff.) 



White-headed kingfisher Lath. Syn. I. pt. II, p. 678 (1782). 



Alcedo leucocephala Gen. Syst. Nat. I, p. 456 (1788, ex Lath). 



Halcyon leucocephala Steph., Gen. Zool. viii, p. 100 (1826). 



Pelargopsis leucocephala .... Sharpe, P.Z.S., 1870, p. 



Alcedo javanica ..... . Shaw, Gen. Zool. viii. p. 67 (1811). 



Halcyon javana ...... Gray, Gen. of B. I, p. 79 (1846). 



Halcyon javana (pt-)> Pelz. Voy. Nov. Vog., p. 49 (1865). 



Bakaka and Rajah udong of the Burmese (Motley). 



P. rostro rubro : capite hand pileato, collo postico concolori : minor : supra lastissime cyanea. 



Hob. in insult " Borneo " dicta. 



Head and back of the neck pale ochre ; back of the neck richer ochre ; upper part of 

 the back and scapularies ultramarine with a faiut greenish lustre ; lower part of the back 

 extremely rich cobalt ; wing-coverts rich ultramarine; quills dark blackish-brown, the inner 

 web pale ochre at the base, the basal half of the outer web of the primaries and the whole 

 of the outer web of the secondaries very rich ultramarine ; tail rich ultramarine above, 

 black beneath ; throat and ckeeks pale ochre ; rest of the under surface of the body rich 

 ochre, a few of the flanks washed with ultramarine ; bill dark sealing-wax red ; feet dark 

 red. Total length 13.0 inches, of bill from front 3.0, from gape 3.3, wing 5.8, tail 3.3, 

 tarsus 0.45, middle toe 0.1, hind toe 0.45. 



Hah. Borneo, Sarawak (Wallace), Banjermassing (Motley), Labuan (Motley). 



The old authors were so notably inaccurate in the localities they assigned to the 

 various species of birds described by them, that we ought not to be surprised when it 

 becomes evident that the Stork-billed Kingfisher stated by them to be from Java, appears 

 on apparently unquestionable grounds not to inhabit that island, but to be found only in 

 Borneo. This fact was first pointed out by Lord Walden (P.Z.S. 1866, p. 553) and my 

 own researches confirm his Lordship's decision. So far as I can see the Bornean Stork - 

 billed Kingfisher appears to be a distinct species, but a comparison of the plate given by me 

 with the figure of the Martin-pecheur de Java given by BufFon in the " Planches Enlumiiu'o" 

 will shew at once that the two birds figured are identical. The figure in the present work is 



Additional references. — Alcedo leucocephala, Lath. Ind. Orn. I, p. 48 (1790) ; Bonn, et Vieill. Ene. Meth. I. 

 p. 288 (1823); Shaw and Nodd. Nat. Misc. pi. 793 (1807). Halcyon leucocephala, Bonap. Consp. Gen. Av. I, 

 p. 154 (1850) ; Sclater, P.Z.S., 1863, p. 213. 



