﻿DACELO LEACH I. 



(LEACH'S LAUGHING KINGFISHER.) 



Dacelo Leachii, Lath. Linn. Trans. XV, p. 205 (1827). 



D. scapularibus brunneis: sexibus differentibus, mas a cauda caerulea, faemina a cauda rufa distinguendo: 

 subtus albescens. 



Hob. in parte orientali Australian septentrionalis. 



Male. Head crested, white with a narrow streak of brown down the centre of the 

 feathers; cheeks white with brown streaks ; ear-coverts long and silky with very narrow brown 

 streaks ; back and scapularies umber brown, with a slightly paler edge ; wing-coverts dark 

 brown very broadly washed with bright shining cobalt; primary coverts deep blue ; quills 

 blackish, white at the base of both webs, the innermost secondaries light brown, the exterior 

 web blue ; lower part of the back and rump intensely bright cobalt, upper tail-coverts blue ; 

 tail blue above, blackish-brown beneath with white tips to the feathers and the internal web, 

 especially on the outer feather, very broadly barred with white ; the outer web with a bar 

 near the end and a slight white marking on the upper part of the feather ; under-parts 

 fulvous white ; sides of and a collar round the neck white, marked with thin brown bars ; 

 upper mandible blackish brown, under mandible yellowish ; feet olive brown. Total length 

 lf> inches, of bill from front 2.7, from gape 3.8, wing 8.0, tail 5.0, tarsus 0.7, middle toe 

 1.5, hind toe 0.7. 



Female. Similar to the male, but having the tail- coverts and tail rich brown, barred with 

 blue, the tail-feathers becoming paler towards the tip, which is white, the bar before the end 

 of the feather being very narrow. Total length 17 inches, of bill from front 2.9, from 

 gape 3.9, wing 8.0, tail 5.0, tarsus 0.7, middle toe 1.5, hind toe 0.7. 



Hab. Queensland (Gould, Diggles). 



This fine Kingfisher is a native of Queensland and the North-eastern portion of the Aus- 

 tralian continent. Mr. Ramsay has recorded it from Port Denison, and its geographical 

 range is given below on the authority of Mr. Diggles. 



Mr. Gould, who has published beautiful figures of the male and female in the u 15inls of 



Additional references. — Dacelo Leachii, Gray, Gen. of Birds, I. p. 78 (1846): Gould, Birds of Austr. II. pi. 

 19 (1847); id. Intr. Birds of Austr. p. 29 (1848) ; Gray, Cat. Fiss. Brit. Mus. p, 51 (1848); Bonap. Consp.Gen. 

 Av. I, p. 154 (1850) ; Reich. Vog. Neu. IIoll. p. 210 (1850) ; id. Handb. Aked. p. 41, t. ceecxxvi, flg. 3159-60 

 (1851); Macgill. Voy. Rattl. II, p. 356 (1852); Cass. Cat. Hale. Phil. Mus. p. 16 (1852); Bonap. Consp. Vol. 

 Anis. p. 9 (1854) ; Gray, P.Z.S. 1858, p. 189; Schl. Mus. Pays Bas, Alced. p. 20 (1863); Ramsay. Ibis, 1865, p. 

 M ; Gould, Handb. Birds of Austr. I, p. 124 (1865) ; Diggles, Orn. Austr. pi. 12 (1867) ; Gray, Hand-list of B. 

 p. 89 (1869;. 



