﻿specimen is s:iid to have come from, I cannot but believe that it is only the young of 

 Cittura sanghirensis, making the sixth specimen I have seen. I append the measure- 

 ments of this bird, in case the receipt of further specimens from Celebes should lead 

 any Ornithologist to consider it an intermediate species : — Total length 9 inches, of 

 bill from front 1.3, from gape 1.8, wing 4.01, tail 3.4, tarsus 0.5, middle toe 0.7, hind 

 toe 0.07. 



I had written thus far, when I received some notes on the two species of Cittura from my 

 friend, Dr. Otto Finsch of Bremen, which I think of considerable interest. He writes, " On 

 Dacelo cyanotis and sanghirensis I have the following remark to make. We possess two speci- 

 mens, one of which is from Celebes (collected by von Rosenberg), and therefore the true 

 cyanotis. It is not an old bird, and has the back olive-brown, the tail reddish-brown ; the 

 wing-coverts blackish, variegated with blue. The feathers of the supercilium and sides of 

 the head are dark bluish- black, some of them variegated with white, but not forming a distinct 

 white supercilium ; on the angle of the mouth some black feathers ; ear- coverts and cheeks 

 reddisli lilac, bill very broad and depressed; forehead the same reddish- cinnamon-brown as 

 the vertex and occiput." 



" The other specimen is from Shangir (collected by von Rosenberg and procured from 

 Frank), and is a very old male; all the colours are much brighter and more splendid. The fore- 

 head is black, as also a spot at the gape, the feathers on the sides of the head and the eyebrows 

 are deep blue-black, those of the latter tipped with white, forming a distinct superciliary 

 stripe of white ; head and back bright cinnamon-red, also the tail; shoulders light cinnamon - 

 yellow, wing-coverts dark blue; ear-coverts and cheeks beautiful lilac. The bill is rather 

 narrower at the base." 



" The differences of these two birds are remarkable, but I believe them to be only caused 

 by age. A. second specimen from Shangir (Frank) had the bill as broad as our Celebes speci- 

 men. Therefore, the bill is not a character whereby to distinguish the two species, but I have 

 not seen enough specimens, and my opinion must, therefore, be of less value. From the 

 observations I have made of these Kingfishers, I can only consider them to be the old and 

 young of the same species." 



Dr. Finsch considers, therefore, that C. cyanotis is the young of C. sanghirensis, because 

 his first specimen comes from Celebes. But a comparison of his description with the remarks 

 given by me of my Celebean bird will shew that they are nearly identically the same, 

 while the fact of their having blue-black cheeks with the white superciliary line of feathers, shews 

 that they are not C. cyanotis. The latter seems to be extremely rare. It is, however, very curious 

 that the two Celebes should differ so considerably from the Sanghir specimens, and this 

 fact argues strongly in favour of the former being a distinct species, but at present I can only 

 say that I entirely agree with Dr. Finsch, and consider it the young of C. sanghirensis. If 

 this should ultimately prove to be the case, Celebes must be added as an additional habitat of 

 this lovely species. 



The figure in the plate is drawn from the type specimen in my own collection, from 

 which also I have taken the description and measurements. 



