﻿tion is somewhat duller, but it is impossible to draw any exact line of demarcation, for the 

 Formosan bird ought, according to its size, to be ranked as intermediate between the birds 

 from Japan and Celebes, though it has the dull colour of the former instead of the bright 

 coloration of the latter sub-species. The Philippine Ruddy Kingfisher is also dull-coloured. 



The sub-species from Celebes is the most brilliant of all the Ruddy Kingfishers, and 

 has the reddish colour of the under surface continued right up to the throat, and has 

 also the blue of the lower part of the back much more extended, but neither of these 

 characters, though sufficiently distinct in the adult, are thoroughly constant, and every 

 gradation can be found. In the Celebean sub-species, certainly, the extent of the red on the 

 throat increases with age, and, judging from the material I have examined, it is the ca.se 

 with the Indo- Malayan bird also. In the young plumage the breast is barred and the 

 back-streak is almost entirely white, while in the older birds this becomes brilliant cobalt, 

 having occasionally a slight lilac tinge. The colours fade on exposure to the light. 



The folloAving measurements clearly show the relative size of these sub-species: — 



No. 



Name. 



Sex. 



Locality. 



Long tot. 



Rostr. 



Alie. 



Tarsi. 



1 



Halcyon eoromanda 



ad. 



Penang. (mus R. B. &.) 



100 



2-3 



4-2 



05 



2 



» » 



ad. 



Malacca, (mus H. Swinhoe.) 



9-3 



2-1 



4-7 



0-5 



3 







Sumatra, (mus B. B. S.) 



10-0 



21 



4-1 



0-5 



4 



» » 



p 



Sumatra. (Wallace.) 



9-0 



2.1 



3-8 



0<5 



5 



j> » 



ad. 



Labuan. (Motley). 



10-0 



2 1 



4-0 



0-5 



6 



!f » 



ad. 



Formosa. (Swinhoe.) 



10 



2-3 



50 



05 



7 



>> >> 



ad. 



Japan (Siebold) * 



10-5 



2'2 



4-7 



0-5 



8 



>> >> 



juv. 



Japan (Siebold).* 



100 



19 



4-6 



0-5 



9 



» !> 



<? 



Macassar. ( Wallace).] 



110 



2 4 



4-7 



0-55 



10 



» >> 



6* 



Menado. (Fraser). 



100 



2-4 



4-3 



0-55 



* Types of H. schlegeli. t Type of H. ,-afa. 



In India its range is thus given by Dr. Jerdon {I.e.) : — 



" This lovely Kingfisher is found along the foot of the Himalayas, in Nepaul and 

 Sikim ; also in the Sunderbuns, and along the eastern coast of the Bay of Bengal. I much 

 doubt if it has been found in the south of India, albeit named from the Coromandel coast. 

 I obtained one specimen from the banks of the Teesta River in Sikim, and Mr. Blyth has seen 

 it en route from Calcutta to Burdwan." 



It appears to be a rare bird in Sikim, where it was obtained by Captain Bulger, who 

 observes (I.e.) : — 



" I only obtained one specimen of this most lovely bird, from the Teesta River, and 

 the Shikaree regarded it as a great prize. The amethystine lustre of its plumage is 

 wonderfully beautiful, rendering it, in my opinion, the handsomest of the whole family." 



Mr. Swinhoe informs us that this species " appears to be resident in Formosa, inhabit- 

 ing the lakes and rivers of the interior of the island, but is by no means common." 



In the Andaman Islands it is a common bird, according to Colonel Tytler. 



The late Mr. Motley, so well known for his researches into the economy of Bornean 

 birds, writes as follows : — 



" The habits of the Labuan Kingfishers appear to be much alike ; they feed almost 

 entirely at sea, and although many of the brooks abound with small fish they are very seldom 

 to be seen far from the beach. A person walking along the shore at high water may often 

 see them dart out of the jungle and dash into the water, seize their prey, and carry it off 

 again among the trees. They never perch on stones or bare branches over the water, like 

 the European species." 



The description is taken from a Penang specimen in my collection, of which the hinder 

 figure in the plate is a representation. The front figure in the plate represents the type of 

 Halcyon rufa, and is taken from the specimen in Mr. Wallace's collection, which he kindly 

 lent to me. 



