﻿TANYSIPTERA NYMPH A. 



(RED-BREASTED KINGFISHER.) 



Tanysiptera nympha, . . . Gray, Ann. Nat. Hist. 1841, p. 237. 



Alcedo nympha, .... Martens, Journ. f. Orn. 1864, p. 18. 



Dacelo dea, pt. .... Schl. Mus. Pays Bas, Alced. p. 43 (1863). 



„ .... Schl. Yog. Ned. Ind. pp. 33, 62 (1864). 



T. macula dorsali nulla : uropygio miniato. 



Hah. in parte septentrionali- occidental! Nova? Guineas. 



Head rich ultramarine, inclining to cobalt on the nape ; ear coverts and upper part of 

 the back and scapularies jet black ; lower part of the back, rump, and upper tail-coverts 

 rich vermilion ; wing-coverts black, edged with ultramarine ; the innermost ones rich 

 cobalt ; wing feathers black, the inner web light rufous from the base, the exterior very 

 narrowly washed with blue; tail-feathers deep blue, the interior ones tipped with white, 

 the two middle tail-feathers rich blue, the spatula long and white, with a faint blush of 

 rose; entire under surface rich vermilion, a little paler on the throat and abdomen ; bill 

 and feet sealing-wax red; eyes black. Total length 11 inches, of bill from front 1.2, 

 from gape 1.7, wing 3.6, tail 2.8, middle rectrices 0.6, tarsus 0.3, middle toe 0.6, hind 

 toe 0.2. 



Hah. Interior of the North- West portion of New Guinea ( Wallace.) 



This beautiful Kingfisher was described in 1841 by Mr. George Robert Gray from a 

 very bad specimen in the British Museum, supposed to be from the Philippine Islands. 

 No other specimen was known till Mr. Wallace re- discovered it in New Guinea and 

 brought home a single skin, thus fixing the true habitat of the species. Mr. von Martens 

 seems to have overlooked this fact in his essay on the Ornithology of the Philippines (I.e.) 

 but does not perpetuate the error in the " Zoologische Abtheilung" of the "Prussian 

 Expedition to Eastern Asia," 



Mr. Wallace has kindly given me the following information respecting the present 

 bird : — 



" This rare S]>ecies was obtained by my assistant, Mr. Allen, in the interior of the 

 North-West peninsula of New Guinea; and the single specimen he obtained is, I believe, 

 the only complete and authentic one in Europe. New Guinea is the only island which 



Additional references. — Tanysiptera nympha, Gray and Mitch. Gen. of Bi ids I, p. 78 (c. 1844), QraT, 

 Cat. Fiss. Brit. Mus. p. 59 (1848), id. P. Z. 8. i860, p. 317, Boaap. Consp. Gen. Av. L j». 157 (I860) Wall 

 P. Z. S. 1862, p. 1G5, id. P. Z. S. 1863, p. 24, Schl. Ned. Tidschr. 1866, p. •>:>(). 



