﻿deep black ; cheeks, throat, and breast white ; rest of the body with the under-wing and tail- 

 coverts deep sienna ; bill and feet sealing-wax red. Total length 8'0 inches, of bill from 

 front 1*6, from gape 1*95, wing 4*3, tail 1*4, tarsus 0*45, middle toe 0*7 hind toe 0"3. 



Female. Similar to the male, but the colours duller and the head more dusky. 



Young. Similar to the adults, but the colours much more dingy, those parts being 

 blackish-brown which in the adult are jet-black ; head uniform ashy ; back of neck, cheeks 

 and entire breast dirty white, thickly crossed with transverse brown vermiculations ; throat 

 and abdomen white, flanks and under wing-and tail-coverts tinged with sienna ; the blue on 

 the wings and back dull ; bill dark red, black at the base. 



Hab. North-Eastern Africa as high as 16° North Lat. (Heuglin), Yemen, South Arabia 

 (Forshil), West Africa, Senegal (Swainson), Casamanze (Verreaux), Port Bassja (mus. Brit.'), 

 Sierra Leone ( Verreaux), Goree (Verreaux), River Yolta (Ussher), Lagos (miis. J. Gould), 

 Gaboon (mus. Brem.), Angola [mus. Lisb.), Benguela (Monteiro), Ondonga, Ovampo Land 

 (Andersson). 



Compared with Halcyon erythrogastra from the Cape Yerde Islands, the present species 

 is generally smaller, has the head not nearly so pure white, the general tone of the plumage 

 is more dusky, and the white on the wing when extended is more conspicuous than in the 

 insular species. In the young birds there is a decided difference, for in addition to the 

 smaller size, the young Halcyon semiccerulea has the hinder neck and breast much more 

 thickly barred than in Halcyon erythrogastra. I noticed this difference particularly in 

 the Leiden Museum, which contains specimens of the young of both species. 



I subjoin a few measurements in order to show the larger size of the bird from St. Jago. 

 It will be noticed that the latter has the shorter wing, though it is the largest bird: — 



No. 



Name. 



Sex. 



Locality. 



Long tot. 



AL 



Caud. 





1 



H. semiccerulea 



s 



N. E. Africa, mm. R. B. S. 



80 



4-3 



2o 





2 



)> 



p 



if it 



8.0 



43 



2-5 





3 



>) 





Abyssinia ,, 



8-0 



42 



2-4 





4 



II. errjthrocjadra 



<J 



St. Jago, Keulemans 



90 



4-1 



2-7 





Little has been recorded respecting the habits of H. semicaindea. Mr. Blanford 

 (I.e.) writes as follows respecting it, as observed by him during the recent expedition to 

 Abyssinia : — "Iris brown, bill and legs scarlet. A purely insectivorous bird, rarely seen near 

 water, and occasionally found in dry portions of the jungle. It occured about Ailet and 

 Ain at the base of the hills, and was also seen in the Anseba Yalley." 



The notes of Mr. Jesse, the Zoologist attached to the above Expedition, are the 

 following : — " First procured by Mr. W. T. Blanford at Ailet, and afterwards by both of us 

 from Ain to the Anseba river during July and August. Saw old birds carrying food in 

 their beaks, but could not discover the nest. Note, a noisy chatter in a rapid diminuendo. 

 Insectivorous. I did not meet with this species anywhere else during my stay in Abyssinia." 



Dr. von Heuglin has given (I.e.) the following particulars: — 



" The Red-bellied Kingfisher is distributed over the whole of the warmer portions of 

 North Eastern Africa, and extends northward up to 16° N. Lat. We found him by the sea 

 (Adail and Somali Coasts) in October, in Abyssinia at an altitude of 8,000 feet above the 

 sea from the commencement of the rainy season to October, northward up to the Bogos 

 and Takah countries, on the Blue and White Nile, westward to the Djur district. Here it 

 was in April, and in June at Djebel- Arandj. According to Forskal it is found in South 



