﻿For the following interesting particulars I am indebted to my friend Mr. E. P. Ramsay, 

 of Dobroyde, N.S.W., who is so well-known as an accurate and keen observer of the habits 

 of Australian birds: — 



"This the 'Common Kingfisher' in the neighbourhood of Sydney, is universally 

 dispersed over the whole Continent of Australia. Specimens from New South Wales seem 

 to be the largest, and those from the mangrove swamps of Port Denison the smallest variety. 

 In some of the New South Wales specimens the tint on the back takes a greenish shade 

 instead of blue, and the breast is more or less marked with brown becoming pure white or 

 buff in some of the adults. This bird is not migratory, although many more are seen 

 during the breeding season than in the winter. They usually select the arboreal nest of the 

 White Ants, wherein, after digging a tunnel to the length of 12 or 18 inches, they excavate a 

 chamber large enough to turn round in, and on the debris at the bottom lay four or five white 

 glossy eggs, 1*05 inches in length by "85 inches in breadth. Some lazy individuals prefer the 

 hollow branches of trees to the trouble of tunnelling in the ants' nests, while the more 

 energetic prefer the bank of a creek or waterhole, where in the soft earth they dig out a 

 house for their young. Although this bird shows no preference for the vicinity of water, 

 being equally numerous in the driest parts of the country, I have noticed them take hsh 

 after the manner of the true Alcyone. One has lately taken up his abode in the willow-trees 

 which overhang a large dam in the Dobroyde Gardens, where he spends his time catching 

 insects from the surface of the water and occasionally a stray fish or two. These birds return 

 year after year to the same places to breed and occupy the same holes." 



The foremost figure in the plate is drawn from an Australian specimen in my collection, 

 and from this the description is likewise taken. The hindermost figure represents a very 

 deeply coloured specimen from Java, sent to me by Mr. Fraser. 



