64 



PIED KINGFISHER. 



from the nostrils are drawn white lines above the 

 eyes, and continued the whole length of the head: 

 the whole under side, from bill to tail, is of a dirty 

 yellowish white, except a little bar of black spots 

 that crosses the middle of the breast : the whole 

 back is black, the feathers having grey tips: the 

 ridge of the wing is white; all the covert-feathers 

 party-coloured of black and white: the bastard 

 wing black : the first or largest quill-feathers are 

 white at their bottoms, then black, having the very 

 tips white: the middle quills have white spots in 

 their outer webs, and white tips: the remaining 

 quills next the back are black with white tips: 

 the tail-feathers are white toward their bottoms; 

 with a row of transverse black spots: toward the 

 tips is a bar of black of an inch broad, the tips 

 beyond the bar being white : the legs and feet are 

 of a dirty brown colour, shaped as in all others of 

 this kind/' 



The above-described specimen is said to have 

 been received from Persia. The bird appears to 

 inhabit various regions both of Asia and Africa, 

 and to vary somewhat in size, as well as in the 

 particular mixture of colours in the plumage. In 

 a specimen represented in the Planches Enlumi- 

 n€es the head is strongly crested, and a black bar 

 passes across the breast. The figure engraved for 

 the present work is likewise from the Planches 

 Enluminees, and was probably taken from a 

 young bird, since it is said to have been some* 

 what smaller than the crested individual. 



t 



