﻿TAN YSIPTERA ACIS. 



("ACTS" KINGFISHER.) 



Tanysiptera acis . . Wall. P. Z. S. 1863, pp. 23, 24 ; Schl. Ned. Tijdschr. 1865, p. 273 ; Sharpe, 



P. Z. S. 1869, p. 631 ; Gray, Handl. of B. I. p. 90 (1869). 



Dacelo dea (pt.) . . Schl. Mus. Pays Bas, diced, p. 43 (1863) ; id. Vog. Ned. Ind. pp. 



33, 62 (1862). 



T. macula dorsali nulla ; uropygio albo ; canda distincte spatulata ; genis, regione parotica et collo postico 

 nigris ; reetricibus exterioribus albis creruleo marginatis. 



Hab. in insula " Bouru " dicta maris moluccensis. 



Head dark blue, inclining to cobalt on the nape ; cheeks, ear-coverts, hinder portion of 

 the neck, upper part of the back and scapulars deep black, with a faint tinge of blue here 

 and there ; lower portion of the back, rump and upper tail-coverts dingy white, each 

 feather broadly margined with black ; wing-coverts deep blue, the innermost ones bright 

 cobalt ; quills black, the inner web yellowish at the base, the exterior webs slightly tinged 

 with dark blue ; tail-feathers white, broadly edged with blue, the middle feathers, with the 

 exception of a few white patches at the base, blue for the whole length as far as the spatula, 

 which is also edged with blue ; entire under surface pale fulvous, each feather narrowly 

 edged with black ; bill red ; feet olive ; iris dark brown. Total length 14 inches, of bill 

 from front 1*2, from gape 1*7, wing 4*0, tail 37, middle rectrices 8*0, tarsus 0.45, middle 

 toe 0-8, hind toe 0'3. 



Hab. Bouru {Wallace.) 



The above description is taken from the type-specimen in Mr. Wallace's collection, and 

 the plate is drawn from the same bird. At present I believe this specimen to be unique in 

 European Museums, for although Mr. G. R. Gray (I.e.) includes it among the Kingfishers in 

 the British Museum I have never seen a specimen there, and the locality given, " Ceram " is 

 of course altogether wrong. 



Mr. Wallace's type-specimen is not quite adult, but, when discovered, the mature bird 

 will scarcely differ except in being pure white underneath. The black cheeks and back 

 place it in the same section of the genus as Tanysiptera hydrocharis, from which it may very 

 easily be distinguished by its larger size and comparatively shorter tail with more white on it. 



Mr. Wallace informs me that the only specimen in his collection was obtaind by him in 

 Bouru, and that it had some "small land-shells in the stomach." 



