THE BURMESE STORK-BILLED KINGFISHER. 79 
the lower neck, breast aud abdomen ; the sides of the neck and a broad 
collar round the neck orange-buf£ ; upper back, scapulars, tertiaries, 
wing-coverts and the longer upper tail-coverts greenish blue; lower back, 
rump and the shorter tail-coverts ultramarine-blue; inner webs of pri- 
maries and secondaries brown ; the outer webs of the secondaries and the 
basal portion of the outer webs of the primaries greenisii blue ; tail blue, 
tinged with purple. In very old birds the wavy lines on the lower plumage 
disappear. 
The female differs only in having the back and scapulars tinged with 
brown. 
Bill dark red, brown at the tip ; mouth dark salmon-red ; iris dark 
brown ; eyelids pinkish fleshy, the edges red ; feet a paler red than the bill ; 
claws horn. 
Length 14*5 inches, tail 4*5, wing 6, tarsus '7, bill from gape 3'75. The 
female is larger. 
The Burmese Stork-billed Kingfisher is abundant over the whole of 
Pegu and Tenasserim, and probably also Arrakan, although its occurrence 
in this Division has not yet been noted. Dr. Armstrong did not observe 
it in the Irrawaddy Delta, but I received skins from Yandoon, and it pro- 
bably occurs over the whole of the low plains composing the Delta. 
It is recorded from the Andaman Islands and from Siam. Dr. Tiraud 
states that it is found in Cochin China, and it extends down the Malay 
peninsula as far at least as Malacca. 
This Kingfisher, one of the commonest and best known in Burmah, is 
found alike in the hills and plains, and is especially abundant in the 
nullahs of the former. It has a very loud and striking note, and it feeds 
not only On fish, but also on reptiles. In the rains it may frequently be 
seen busy catching fish in the inundated plains in the south of Pegu, 
seating itself on the telegraph-wires which traverse the fields, and darting 
into the water with great impetuosity. I found the eggs in a hole of a 
river-bank near Pegu in April; they were four in number. Captain 
Bingham found the eggs in the Thoungyeen valley in February, March 
and April in the holes of banks, and on one occasion he identified as the 
nest of this bird a structure made of grass placed in a bamboo bush ; but 
there is little doubt, I think, that he was deceived as to the ownership of 
the nest. 
There are many races of this Kingfisher : — P. gurial, of the Indian penin- 
sula, with a dark brown cap; P. malaccensis, from Malacca, somewhat 
similar to P. gurial, but much smaller; P. fraseri, from Malacca and some 
of the islands, with a very indistinct cap ; P. intermedia, from the Nicobar 
Islands ; and others from more remote regions. 
