﻿from the continent of Africa. It is to be recognised by its larger size, whiter head, and 

 generally purer and more brilliant coloration. The beak is also appreciably longer and 

 stouter, and in the young stage the bird from St. Jago never has the black markings on the 

 breast so thickly distributed as in the continental species. 



Mr. Keulemans, who visited the Cape de Verde Islands with Dr. Dohrn in 1863 and 

 1864, procured a large series of this lovely bird, and he has very obligingly given me the 

 following extracts from his notes on its habits: — 



" This Kingfisher is a native of the Cape de Verde Islands, and is rare in the northern 

 but common in the southern islands. There is no difference in size in the adult birds, but 

 young ones are considerably smaller. In colour the male and female resemble each other, 

 but the wing-coverts of the latter are less black, and the tip of the primaries brownish 

 black. In the young birds the colour of the bill is brownish-red, yellow at the tip, the legs 

 rufous, and the plumage generally less beautiful ; they have also very little red on the 

 under parts, the flanks alone being of this colour. When the young leave the nest they 

 have no red at all, and the feathers of the head and breast are striped and banded with 

 grey ; the red under parts appear gradually, but not by moulting." 



" Halcyon erythrogastra is the only Kingfisher inhabiting the Cape de Verde Islands, and it 

 is very common in St. Jago. There it is very tame, and can be approached quite closely with- 

 out difficulty. When flying up, it utters a note something like that of the Common Kestrel 

 ( Tinnunculus alaudarius), and this is termed ' laughing ' by the inhabitants. Its food consists 

 of large insects, lizards, mice, and young birds. It breeds in December and January, and 

 builds its nest generally in holes under the roots of large trees. The native name is Pas- 

 serinha." 



" I shall never forget a scene I once witnessed in connexion with this bird. Dr. 

 Dohrn and myself had paid a visit to Cidada Velha, the old capital of St. Jago, and had to 

 pass a night in that quarter of the island. A recent drought had exhausted the country, 

 and provisions and lodgings were almost impossible to obtain. We entered an old and 

 dilapidated hut, and endeavoured to make ourselves comfortable for the night. Sleep was 

 impossible, for it rained in torrents, and through one of the many openings in the roof the 

 water fell on my face and body rendering me completely miserable, so that I determined to 

 gel up so soon as the first streak of daylight appeared. Day dawned at last, and I sallied 

 forth. The rain bad ceased and the morning was calm and fresh, so with my gun in my 

 hand I entered the ruins of an old Portuguese church, by the side of a mountain torrent, 

 a little way from the town, and took my seat on a stone, waiting for the sun to rise. 

 Throughout the interior of the church the long grass grew to a height of three or four feet 

 and was all wet with the dew and the rain of the night before, while on the damp walls 

 dozens of lizards ( Gecko) were crawling. Occupied with my thoughts I sat still for some 

 time when my attention was aroused by a fluttering of wings, and looking up I caught sight 

 of a Kingfisher in the act of tearing a lizard from the wall. Presently another entered, 

 then another, and another, till at last the church was full of them, a continual stream of 

 Kingfishers entering and departing through the open windows and the holes in the roof. 

 The opportunity for collecting was too good to be lost and I secured many specimens, but 

 neither the noise of my gun nor the fall of their companions deterred the remainder from 

 entering the church and procuring their food. So unsuspicious of harm is this bird that I 

 often threw a stone at one, and the only notice it took was to turn its head if the stone 

 went near to it. As the sun rose I went outside, and there the whole place was full of 

 Kingfishers also, busily engaged in hunting for lizards among the wet herbage and ruins. 

 The sight made a great impression on my mind, as hitherto I had only known the species 

 as a solitary bird sitting throughout the daytime by itself and rather sluggish in- its habits 

 than otherwise." 



The plate is drawn from a sketch taken from life by Mr. Keulemans in St. Jago. The 

 descriptions of the adult and young are also taken from birds procured by the same gentle- 

 man, the adult being in my own collection and the young in the Leiden Museum. 



