﻿TANYSIPTERA MAEGARETH^. 



(BATCHIAN KINGFISHER.) 



Tanysiptera margarethce .... Heine, Journ. f. Orn. 1859, p. 406 et 1861, p. 215; 



Sharpe, P.Z.S. 1869, p. 631. 

 Tanysiptera isis Gray, P.Z.S. 1860, p. 347 ; Wall. P.Z.S. 1863, p. 24; 



Schl. Ned. Tijdschr. 1865, p. 272. 

 Bacelo dea (pt.) Schl. Mus. Pays Bas, Aleed. p. 43 (1863) ; id. Vog. 



Ned. Ind. Aleed. pp. 33, 62 (1864;. 

 Tanysiptera margaretta .... Gray, Handl. of B. I. p. 90 (1869). 



T. macula dorsali nulla ; uropygio albo ; regione parotica et collo postico atro-cseruleis : pileo ultramarino, 

 superciliis cum nucha cyaneis : tectricibus caudahbus postremis atro-cteruleis. 



Hab. in insulis ' Batchian, Gilolo' dictis maris nioluccensis. 



Crown of the head ultramarine encircled with a line of bright cobalt feathers ; fore- 

 head black ; cheeks, ear-coverts, back and sides of neck, upper part of the back and 

 scapulars deep blue ; lower part of the back and rump white ; upper tail-coverts white, 

 broadly edged with bright blue ; wing-feathers brownish black, the inner web white at the 

 base, the outer web sparingly margined with blue, some of the feathers having a dusky 

 edging ; tail-feathers white margined with blue, the two middle feathers blue to half the 

 extent of the spatula, which is elongated, the basal portion of the feathers being marked or 

 irregularly streaked with white. Total length 13 inches, of bill from front 1*3, from 

 gape 1*7, wing 3'6, tail 3 8, middle rectrices 8*0, tarsus 0*5, middle toe 0"7, hind toe 0*3. 



Hab. Batchian, Gilolo {Wallace). 



As Mr. Sclater remarks (P.Z.S. 1860, p. 347), there can be no doubt that Heine's 

 T. margarethce is the same as Mr. Gray's Tanysiptera isis. The name adopted is, therefore, 

 the correct one to be employed for this species. 



A slight discrepancy will be observed between the measurements given above, which 

 are those of a fine skin from Batchian, and those given by Herr Heine. The latter gentle- 

 man does not state the locality of his type specimen, but his description and measurements 

 agree with a specimen in my collection from Gilolo. Birds from this latter island seem to 

 be appreciably larger than those from Batchian. 



The description and figure are taken from a beautifully preserved specimen from 

 Batchian lent to me by Mr. Wallace. 



