﻿TAN YSIPTERA SABRINA. 



(KAIOA KINGFISHER.) 



Tanyniptera sabrina . Gray, P. Z. S. 1860, p. 347, pi. 170; Wall. P. Z. S. 1863, p. 24; Schl. Ned. 



Tijdselir. 1866, p. 272 ; Gray, Handl. of B. I, p. 90 (1869); Sharpe, P. Z. S. 

 1869, p. 631. 



T. macula dorsali alba : subtus alba : scapulai-ibus nigris, ultramarine- clare lavatis : tectricibus supra- 

 caudalibus cum rectricibus albis. 



Hab. in insula " Kaioa" dicta. 



Head, nape and wing-coverts bright ultramarine ; cheeks, ear-coverts and hinder part 

 of the neck, upper part of the back and scapulars black, plainly washed with dark blue ; 

 in the centre of the back a small patch of white feathers ; wing-feathers black, the extreme 

 basal portion of the inner web white, the exterior web broadly margined with dark blue ; 

 lower part of the back, rump and upper tail-coverts pure white ; tail-feathers pure white ; 

 the two middle feathers white at the base with here and there a narrow blue edging, the 

 narrow portion of the shaft blue, the spatula white ; bill sealing-wax red ; feet olive- 

 brown. Total length 13*5 inches, of bill from front 1*4, from gape 1*8, wing 4*3, tail 4*3, 

 middle rectrices 7*5, tarsus 0'5, middle toe 0'7, hind toe 0'3. 



Hab. Kaioa Island ( Wallace, von Rosenberg). 



The description and figure of this fine Tanysiptera are taken from a specimen in Mr. 

 Wallace's collection, and as will be seen, this bird possesses a white dorsal spot. Professor 

 Schlegel considers this character of no importance, having, as he relates (I.e.) received a 

 series of no less than 16 specimens from Kaioa. He writes : — " A certain number of 

 individuals do not offer the least trace of white on the upper part of the back, in others 

 the white is reduced to a single feather, while in the rest these white patches are spread 

 more or less completely over the back." Every specimen of T. sabrina that I have 

 examined in this country has had a distinct dorsal patch, which it appears on examination 

 to assume gradually, and I therefore believe that like T. doris some trace of the white spot 

 will be seen in the young bird. Nor is my opinion compromised by the fact, that Professor 

 Schlegel has got specimens of T. sabrina without a trace of a dorsal spot, for he very 

 kindly lent me one to figure in the present work, and on careful examination I found that, 

 although the skin looks perfect, the whole of the feathers of the middle of the back have 

 been removed, either by a shot or otherwise. So that at present 1 consider T. sabrina to 

 be a good species and its w hite dorsal spot to be one of its characteristic peculiarities. 



The principal description and figure are from a Kaioa specimen in Mr. Wallace's 

 collection. 



