ALCEDO BEN GALENSIS. 
(LITTLE INDIAN KINGFISHER.) 
Alcedo lengalensis, Gra. Syst. Nat. i. p. 450 (1788) ; Kittl. Kupf. Vog. pi. 29 (1832) ; Sykes, 
P. Z. S. 1832, p. 84; Jerd. Madr. Journ. 1840, p. 231; Blyth. Cat. B. Mus. A. S. B. 
p. 49 (1849); Kelaart, Prodromus, Cat. p. 119 (1852); Layard, Ann. & Mag. 
Nat. Hist. 1853, xii. p. 172 ; Horsf. & Moore, Cat. B. Mus. E. I. Co. p. 129 (1854) ; 
Temm. & Schl. Faun. Jap. Av. pi. 38 (1850); Jerdon, B. of Ind. i. p. 230 (1862); 
Sharpe, Mon. Alced. pi. 2, p. 11 (1868-71); Holdsworth, P. Z. S. 1872, p. 424; 
Hume, Nests and Eggs, p. 107 (1873) ; id. Str. Feath. 1873, p. 168, et 1875, p. 173 ; 
Ball, ibid. p. 387; Legge, Ibis, 1874, p. 14; Oates, Str. Feath. 1875, p. 52; Butler, 
ibid. p. 456 ; Armstrong, ibid. 1876, p. 307 ; Inglis, ibid. 1877, p. 19. 
Alcedo minor , Schl. Mus. P.-B. Alced. p. 7 (1863). 
Alcedo japonica, Bonap. Consp. Yol. Anis. p. 10 (1854). 
The Little Blue Kingfisher of some ; The Common Indian Kingfisher , J erdon ; “ King of 
the Shrimps,” China (Swinhoe). 
Chota JcilJcila, Hind. ; Chota match-ranga, Beng. ; Nila buclie gadu, Telugu ; Ung-chim-pho, 
Lepch. ; Garun, natives in Himalayas ; To Jie-dng, lit. “ Fishing Reverence, or ‘ the 
old gentleman that fishes !” Chinese of Amoy (Swinhoe). 
Mal-pelihuduwa, lit. “ Flower-Kingfisher,” from its bright colours ; also Big a pelihuduwa, 
Sinhalese. 
Adult male and female. Length 6-0 to 6-3 inches ; wing 2 7 to 2-82 ; tail 1-2 to 1-4 ; tarsus 03 to 04 ; middle toe and 
claw 0 - 67 ; bill to gape 1-72 to 1 - 95 , average length 1 - 8 . 
Iris deep brown ; bill, upper mandible blackish brown, lower yellow or reddish yellow ; legs and feet coral-red, claw s 
Some male specimens which 1 have shot, and which seem fully adult, have the under mandible black, from w hieh it 
appears that the coloration of this is uncertain. Mr. Armstrong notes it in some Irrawaddy examples as brownish 
white. 
Based portion of feathers of the head, hind neck, and a broad stripe leading from the lower mandible down the sides 
of the neck blackish brown ; the terminal parts of these feathers, together with the tips of the wing-coverts, 
French blue ; scapulars, ground-colour of the wing-coverts, outer webs of the quills, and the tail-feathers duller 
blue ; back, rump, and upper tail-coverts bright cerulean blue (this colour becomes a shining green if held away 
from the light) ; inner w'ebs of the primaries and secondaries, and terminal portions of the latter, dark hair- 
brown ; lateral feathers of the rump and upper tail-coverts cobalt-blue. 
Lower part of loral region black ; upper part of the same, a broad streak passing over the ears, chest, and under 
surface, with the under tail- and under wing-coverts orange-rufous ; chin, throat, and a continuation of the ear- 
stripe white, the latter separated from the throat by the blue cheek- and side-neck stripe ; bases of the under- 
surface feathers white, imparting a non-uniform appearance to the plumage. 
Young. Bill in some examples (males) with the under mandible black, like the upper, and tipped with whitish ; in a 
female example which, from the green hue of the blue parts and the state of the organs, appears to be immature 
it is yellowish. 
The distribution of the colours in the nestling is the same as in the adult, but the blue tints are greener than when 
older. This greenish blue is an individual peculiarity, as some immature examples are quite as blue as old birds. 
Obs. This species is a small race of A. ispida, the European Kingfisher, differing from it in its proportionally longer 
bill and much less bulky body, although it measures very nearly as much as the latter in the wing. Ceylonese and 
