ALCEDININiE. 
Alcyone Swains * 
Differs from the former genus by the total absence of the inner toe. 
The species that compose this division are found in the Indian Archipelago, New Guinea, and Australia, 
and manners are similar to those of the former genus. 
Their hah' ts 
1. A. azurea (Lath.) Swains. Zool. 111. pi. 26., Jard. & Selby, 
Illustr. Orn. t. 55. f. 1., Lewin, B. N. H. pi. - Alcyone australis 
Swains. ; A. tribrachys Shaw, Nat. Misc. pi. 681. 
2. ? A. pulchra Gould, Proc. Z. S. 1846. p. 
3. ? A. diemenensis Gould, Proc. Z. S. 1 846. p. 
4. A. lepida (Temm.) PI. col. 595. f. 1. 
5. A. solitaria (Temm.) PI. col. 595. f. 2. ^ uS tr. 
6. A. pusilla (Temm.) Gould, PI. col. 595. f- 3., B. 0 
pi. 
Ceryle Boie.\ 
Bill long, straight, and strong, with the culmen slightly advancing on the forehead and sloping 
tip, which is acute ; the sides much compressed ; the lateral margins rather dilated at the base, ^ 
straight to the tip ; the gonys long and ascending. Tail long, broad, and rounded. Tarsi remai 
short and stout. The remaining characters are very similar to those given with Alcedo. 
The species of Ceryle inhabit Africa, India, and most parts of the New World. They are always 
neighbourhood of fresh-water streams, and falling waters, perched solitary on an overhanging branch, watc 11 ° t 
° - . . . . ,, ,1 • ,1 n 1 _ 5 n fl,n 
the 
the 
I I I > p ^ 1 X y IXA. Xlu V/ VA * * w** I , / I J X » ^ ^ J J ^ l.* 
approach of fish to the surface of the water, when with a sudden sweep they seize the fish and swallow it m an 
Their flight is rapid and straight, and the noise emitted by some species is loud, hoarse, and similar to a jth 
nest is formed at the extremity of a long gallery dug in the clayey or sandy banks, to the depth of severa c 
the end wide enough for both parents to turn in. The eggs are usually five or six in number. 
1. C. rudis (Linn.) Edwards’s Birds, pi. 9- PI. enl. 62. 7 1 6. 
Ispida bicincta et I. bitorquata Swains. 
2. C. guttata (Vigors), Gould, Cent, of B. pi. — Alcedo lugubris 
Temm. PI. col. 548. 
3. C. alcyon (Linn.) Catesb. Carol, t. 69., PI. enl. 715., Wils. 
Amer. Orn. pi. 23. f. 1-, PI. enl. 593. 
4. C. maxima (Pall.) Swains. B. of W. Afr. pi. 11. Alcedo 
guttata Bodd, PI. enl. 6 79. ; Ispida gigantea Swains. 
5. C. torquata (Linn.) PI. enl. 284. — Alcedo cinerea Bonn. ; 
A. cyanea Vieill. Azara, No. 417, 418. ; A. stellata Meyen, Nov. 
Act. xvi., Suppl. t. 14. 
6. C. viridirufa (Bodd.) PI. enl. 592.— Alcedo bicolor Gmel. 
7. C. amazona (Gmel.) — Alcedo rubescens Vieill. Azara, No. 
8. C. americana (Gmel.) PI. enl. 591. 
Azara, No. 421. 
9. C. Cabariisii Tscli. Faun. Per. p. 
_ Alcedo vi: 
. Alcedo 
iriilis 
fie «' 
ai» er ‘ ci 
:a » 9 
Tsch. Nat , lVli sC ' 
10. ? C. inda Linn. Edwards's Birds, pi. 325., Shaw, 
pi. 889. r pi. evl 
11. C. super ciliosa (Linn.) Edwards’s Birds, pi. 24 j>i 
756. var. /3. 
12. C .}} leucorhyncha (Gmel.) Seba, Thes. i. t. 53. 
13. C. ?? surinamensis (Gmel.). 
14. C. ?? brasiliensis (Gmel.). 
15. C. ?? cayanensis (Gmel.) — Alcedo taparara B‘>n 
419, 420. 
* Mr. Swainson established this genus in 1837 (Class, of Birds, ii. p. 336.). 
t M. Boie established this genus in 1828. Ispida (1837) of Mr. Swainson is synonymous. 
September, 1847. 
