RIJKS MUSEUM VAN NATUURLIJKE HISTORIE'"' 
RAAMSTEEG 2, LEIDEN, NEDERLAND — TELEFOON 071*14 38 44 
COR RESPONDENTIE-ADRES : POSTBUS 9517, 2300 RA LEIDEN 
Dr. H • H# Moynihan 
Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute 
Box 2072 
Balboa 
Panama Kanaal Zone 
Leiden, June 12 th 1979 , 
Dear Dr, Moynihan, 
There is very little I can tell you about Halcyon smyrn ensis in 
addition to the information contained, in my last letter, but it seems 
indeed clear to me that in both Sumatra and Java the species is a new 
coloni st . 
In the large collections made in Deli in the early years of this 
century (1912-1915) by Dr. i.L. de Bussy (published 1919, by de Beaufort 
do s y » -ijdr. Dierk. 21: 229-276; more unpublished material in our 
collection) there is no mention of II. smyrnensis . although nine species 
of Alcedinidae were collected. Yet, Baron van Lynden, thirty years later, 
calleu it the commonest kingfisher in the same region. Surely this indi- 
cates, yes practically proves, recent colonisation. 
In the article mentioned above, de Bussy makes an interesting remark 
m the discussion of H.. chloris , of which I give here a free translation: 
"This species is very common everywhere along the coast.... for many years 
J have never seen it far from the coast, such in strong contrast to" its 
behaviour in Java, where for example near Buitenzorg, not to mention many 
0 J.er places, it is numerous. In 1915, however, to my surprise, I disco- 
vered it in the Highlands in the neighbourhood of Kaban Djahe, hence far 
lnto ^be interior. This distribution is peculiar as the species docs not 
arpear to occur in the intervening country". From this it would appear 
tnat 1U the Bussy ’s time H . chloris did not occur in the cultivated low- 
lands iwhefee indeed it is common in Java). This may be connected with the 
fact that colonisation of Deli by tobacco planters began only about i860 
or 1 , in what previously was heavy forest. Open cultivated country must 
have been a new habitat in Deli, that in the Bussy’ s time had not yet been 
colonized by ii. chloris, and this may possibly have given H. smyrnensis 
its opportunity. You will realize that this is only speculation, as I have 
no personal experience in Deli. Did you see H. chloris there? 
We8t tIava is ornithologically so well-known, that I am sure that if 
£l. smyrnensis ever occurred there as more than a rare straggler, it would 
nave been recorded. Even now there is only this single case of breeding 
known so that the species can hardly be said to be established in Java. 
Its appearance is even more recent than in Sumatra. In this case the ex- 
planation suggested above for Sumatra, that there was an open niche avail- 
able, is invalid as in Java H. chloris is common in cultivated country. 
p. 2 
