178 
ORNITHOLOGY. 
134. Alcedo bengalensis (Gra.). 
Our common Indian Kingfisher was excessively plentiful 
in Kaslimir_, where it goes by the names of Tint Konu and 
TuntUj but was never observed after crossing the Zoji-la 
Pass. [G. H.^ 
Of the numerous specimens procured in Kashmir two 
are young males. We do not think that the peculiar 
coloration of the under parts and shortness of the bills 
of the young in this species has been noticed. Dr. Jerdon 
saySj ^' In young birds a bluish-green tinge is the prevail- 
ing tint ; in adults^ a pure blue.''-' This is true to a certain 
extent^ but this difference is not very marked^ nor absolutely 
constant^ as we have quite young birds almost as blue as 
any adult^ and a breeding female caught on her eggs with 
as green a tinge as any young one. 
The marked distinctions between young and adult are: — 
First,, the colour of the base of the throat and upper breast, 
which in the adult is bright ferruginous, in the young a 
dusky salmon, all the feathers broadly tipped with greyish 
green, which colour, owing to the overlapping of the 
feathers, is the only one visible. 
Second, the size of the bill, which in the fully adult 
male will measure from 1'6 to 1*7 (from forehead to point); 
while in the young, even after they have left the nest and 
have begun to forage for themselves, it will measure less 
than one inch. I may add that in the young the lower 
breast, abdomen, flanks, lower tail-coverts, and feet are all 
much more dingily coloured than the same parts in the 
adult. 
Since writing the above I have received the number of 
Mr. Sharpens excellent monograph* of the Kingfishers con- 
* There is one point in this monograph which surprises me. Mr. 
Sharpe, I think, figures a specimen of Ceryle guttata, killed by me, 
which I gave to Captain Marshall, pointing out the distinction between 
the sexes in this species, but Mr. Sharpe says that the two sexes are alike; 
whereas in adults the one has invariably the under-wing coverts white, 
the other has them pale cinnamon colour. I have killed and dissected 
numbers, and can therefore speak positively as regards this point. 
{_A. 0. 
