KINGFISHERS. 
53 
garded as sacred birds, and severe penalties are exacted to 
prevent their being killed. None of the species are at all 
musical in their notes. Dr. Horsfield says/that the voice 
of the pretty little Javanese species may be heard as it flies 
along, but that its sharpness is unpleasant to the ear. 
Although the kingfishers be pretty birds with their gene- 
rally bright plumage, their large beaks and smallish bodies 
and tail give them, when at rest, a misshapen appearance, 
which is lost when they are seen flying, like coloured meteors, 
on the banks of some tree-shaded rivulet. 
The form of the species of one genus of Kingfishers 
[Tanysi/pterd), even when at rest, is beautifully balanced by 
the tail, the two middle feathers of which are very long, and 
extend far beyond the others. The first known species of this 
genus is a native of New Guinea [T. Lea, Plate IV. fig. 1). 
A second lovely species, the sexes of which, as in most of 
the kingfishers, are similarly coloured, was found by Mr. 
Macgillivray on the voyage of H.M.S. Rattlesnake. By 
Mr. Gould it has been named the white-tailed Tanysiptera 
{T, Sylvia), This shy bird was found rather plentifully 
near Cape York, on the north coast of Austraha. It 
seemed to be particularly fond of resorting to small sunny 
openings in the woods, to which it was chiefly attracted by 
