CERYLE RUDIS. 
289 
Korajala kilkila, lit. “Spotted Kingfisher,” Hind.; Phutka match-ranga and Kart kata, 
Beng. (Jevdon) ; To-he-haw, lit. “Fishing Tiger” (Swinhoe). 
Pelihuduwa, Waturanuwa , Gomera pelihuduwa, Sinhalese. 
Adult male and female. Length 1 1 o to 11' 75 inches ; wing 5*3 to 5-6 ; tail3’0 ; tarsus 0-4 to 0-45 ; middle toe 0-6, its 
claw (straight) 0-35 ; hind toe 0-25 ; bill to gape 2-8 to 3-0, at front 0-23. Females average slightly larger than 
males. 
Iris brown : bill black, the tip somewhat pale ; legs and feet blackish, soles paler. 
Adult male. Head, nape, terminal portions of the back, rump, and wing-covert feathers, primaries, and secondaries, 
central portion of tail, cheeks, a broad band across the chest (sometimes complete, at others interrupted in the 
centre), and another narrower one across the breast black ; a broad patch above the lores continued as a super- 
cilium to the nape, basal half and tip of tail, basal portion of the primaries and secondaries, the inner webs and 
tips of the latter, lateral margins of the crown and nape-feathers, the tips of the back, scapular, and wing-covert 
feathers, the major portion of the median wing-coverts, and the entire under surface with the under tail- and under 
wing-coverts pure white ; edge of 1st primary likewise white ; the lower plumage with a silky texture ; the fore- 
head more or less uniform black ; a few fine black streaks on the white of the lower part of cheeks ; a patch of 
feathers at each side of the belly, with large black subterminal markings. 
Female. Differs from the male in wanting the lower or breast-band of black, and in having the upper broad chest- 
band interrupted in the centre. 
The extent of the white edgings on the upper surface is variable in both sexes, and the older the bird the greater the 
gap in the breast-band of the female. 
Young. Iris pale brown ; bill reddish black, with a considerable portion of the tips yellowish white ; legs and feet, 
brown. . 
Very similar to adults, but with more white perhaps about, the back of the neck ; the feathers of the back more deeply 
' tipped, and the wing-coverts and outer webs of the secondaries more marked with white. In the female, the 
chest-band is rather narrow and complete, dividing in the centre more and more as the bird grows older ; in the 
male it is very broad, and likewise uninterrupted in the centre ; more of the feathers of the lower flanks are 
spotted with black than in the adult. As considerable confusion has existed concerning the pectoral bands in the 
two sexes, I have noted the above peculiarities from a male and female nestling, able to fly, taken from the same nest. 
Obs. Mr. Hume observes that in India females are larger than males ; Ceylonese examples correspond in size with 
those from the mainland. Four females in the national collection measure as follows (1) wing 5-0, bill to gape 
3-0 (Assam) ; (2) wing 5-4, bill to gape 2-8 (Kamptee) ; (3) wing 5-6, bill to gape 2-85 ; (4) wing 5-5, bill to gape 
2-55. Four males (1) wing 5-2, bill to gape 27 ; (2) wing 5-4, bill to gape 2-95 ; (3) wing 5-5, bill to gape 2-85 ; 
(4) wing 5’45, bill to gape 2-85. The fourth female example is exceptionally short in the bill. The white of the 
primaries appears, as a rule, to approach nearer the tips of the feathers than in Ceylonese specimens that I have 
examined ; in one Indian example it is 1-3 from the tip of the first quill, while in Ceylonese it varies from 2-0 to 
1-5 inch from it. I also observe that the heads of the specimens above enumerated are more conspicuously 
striated with white; but this, as I have remarked with regard to Ceylonese examples, is variable. Reichenbach 
separated the Ceylon Oeryle as O. leucomelanura, on account of what he stated to be a large roundish spot under the 
shoulder, and of the band on the outer tail-feathers being divided into two parts : the first characteristic is nothing 
more than the incomplete breast-band in the female ; and with regard to the second feature, this band will be found 
to be more or less divided in specimens from all districts ; in scarcely any two examples are these feathers the same- 
A Mesopotamian female example measures 5-7 in the wing, another from Knysna, South Africa, the same, and 
one from Egypt 5’65. Westem-Assam and African birds would seem, therefore, to be larger than Ceylonese. 
Distribution. The Black- and- White Kingfisher is more or less common throughout the whole sea-board, 
•md m the northern half of the island its range extends inland to the great tanks, such as Ivanthelai, Minery, 
To pare, &e., where it is tolerably frequent. In the Western Province it is found on the Ixaluganga, and on the 
Holo-odde and Pantura lakes, the Negombo and Puttalam Canal, and other waters which are surrounded with 
open land. It is likewise common on the Gindurah and other large rivers in the south, keeping chiefly to 
those parts which flow through cultivated districts. On all the lewavs and salt lakes of the south-east and 
