83 
BIRDS OF BRITISH BURMAH. 
471. HALCYON SMYENENSIS. 
THE WHITE-BREASTED KINGFISHER. 
Alcedo smyrnensis, Lin9t. Sj/st Nat. i. p. 181. Alcedo fusca, Bodd. Tahl. PI. Enl. 
p. 64. Halcyon fuscus, Jerd. B. hid. i. p. 224. Halcyon smyrnensis, 
Sharps, Mon. Alced. p. 161, pi. 59; Hume, Nests and Bggs, -p. 105; Dresser, 
Birds Eur. v. p. 133, pi. ; Bl. B. Burm. p. 70 j Armstrong, S. F. iv. p. 306 ; 
Oates, S. F. v. p. 143 ; miine 8f Dav. S. F. vi. p. 74 ; Anders. Yunnan Exped. 
p. 579 ; Legge, Birds Ceijhn, p. 298 ; Hume, 8. F. viii. p. 85 j Bingham, 8. F. ix. 
p. 154 ; Kelham, Ibis, 1881, p. 380. Entomobia smyrnensis, David et Oust. 
Ois. Chine, p. 76. 
Description. — Male and female. Chin, throat and centre of the breast 
white ; remainder of the head and lower plumage, the whole neck and the 
upper back rich chocolate-brown ; centre of the back and scapulars greenish 
blue ; lower back, rump and upper tail-coverts ultramarine-blue ; tail blue, 
the centre feathers duller ; lesser wing-coverts chestnut ; median coverts 
black ; greater coverts black, tipped with blue ; primaries with a patch of 
white on the inner webs, increasing in extent till it occupies nearly the 
whole web on the last primary; the outer webs correspondingly bluish 
white, then blue for a short distance, and finally the tips of the feathers 
black j secondaries and tertiaries blue, broadly edged with brown on the 
inner web. 
Bill dark red, with the margins brownish ; mouth bright red ; iris 
brown ; eyelids plumbeous, the edges pinkish brown ; legs coral-red ; 
claws horny. 
Length 11*3 inches, tail 3' 7, wing 4*7, tarsus '6, bill from gape 2*6. The 
female is of the same size. 
The White-breasted Kingfisher is abundant over the whole Province, 
except, perhaps, on the higher hills and mountains. 
It has a considerable range, being found throughout the Indo-Burmese 
countries, the whole of India, with Ceylon, and further on in Southern 
Asia as far as Palestine and the Red Sea. It occurs in China, Siam, 
Cochin China and the Malay peninsula. 
This Kingfisher has habits peculiar to itself, being in great measure 
independent of water and living mostly on small reptiles and large insects. 
It is found principally in well-wooded parts of the country, flying from tree 
to tree and seizing its prey on the ground. It has a loud and easily 
recognizable call. The eggs, usually five in number, are laid in a hole in 
the bank of a ravine in forests and not in the banks of rivers. The 
breeding-season lasts from April to June. 
