74 LONG-SHAFTED KINGFISHER. 



bill is rather short than long, thick at the base, 

 sharp-pointed, and of a bright orange-colour : the 

 head and upper part of the neck are of a fine blue, 

 deeper on the sides, and lighter on the crown ; the 

 upper part of the back and the scapular feathers 

 brown, bordered with deep blue : the throat, under 

 part of the neck, breast, belly, thighs, and rump 

 white, slightly tinged with rose-colour: the smaller 

 wing coverts are of a very bright blue ; the larger 

 of a deeper blue: all the quill-feathers are blue on 

 the outside edges, but are brown within and at the 

 tips : the tail consists of ten feathers, the two 

 middle ones exceeding the next adjoining by four 

 inches, and the outer ones by four inches and a 

 half : the two long feathers are w^ebbed to the dis- 

 tance of only about one third from the base, and 

 again at the tips, the intermediate part being only 

 very slightly barbed by extremely short fibres, so 

 as to appear at first sight like a naked shaft : this 

 naked part is of a blue colour, the base and tips 

 being of a subrosaceous white, with a blue spot on 

 the outer web : the rest of the tail-feathers are rose- 

 Tvhite, edged with browns the legs and feet reddish. 

 This beautiful bird is a native of Ternate, one of 

 the Molucca islands. The middle tail-feathers are 

 said to be longer in the male than in the female. It 

 is not improbable that the same particularity may 

 take place in this bird which has before been re- 

 corded of the Momot, viz. that the naked appear- 

 ance of the middle part of the two longest tail- 

 feathers may not be truly natural, but may be 

 owing to a temporary loss of the webs on that 



