LITTLE KINGFISHER. 
dark brown, feet and tarsus dark grey; bill black, tip brown. Total length 
112 mm. ; culmen 28, wing 54, tad 23, tarsus 8. Figured. Collected at Cairns, 
North Queensland, in August, 1908. 
Adult female. Similar to the adult male. 
Immature. Has the upper-surface greenish and the patch on the side of the breast 
blackish-brown. 
Nest. A hole in the bank of a creek. 
Eggs. Clutch, five. White, nearly round in shape, texture of shell fine and glossy. 
17 to 18 mm. by 14 to 15. 
Breeding-season. February (Cape York). 
This beautiful little bird was added to the Australian Avifauna through the 
exertions of Gilbert, whose notes were not published, but were included in 
the following account by Gould : “ This lovely little Kingfisher is a native 
of the northern portions of Australia ; the specimens in my collection were 
all procured at Port Essington, where it is a rare bird ; and from it always 
inhabiting the densest mangroves, is not only seldom seen, but is extremely 
difficult to procure ; in general habits and manners it very much resembles 
the Alcyone azurea, but its note is somewhat more shrill and piping, and its 
flight more unsteady. Specimens of this species from New Guinea, which I 
have had opportunities of examining in the noble collection at Leyden, present 
no difference whatever from those found in Australia. The food of the 
Alcyone pusilla consists of small fish, which are taken precisely after the 
manner of the Common Edngfisher of our own island.” 
The next note appears to be when Ramsay recorded it from Rockingham 
Bay, where he stated that it was “By no means rare, but seldom found away 
from the creeks in the very densest parts of the scrubs ; it is always difficult 
to procure. Its note is a shrill, weak, piping cry, emitted chiefly while on 
the wing. Several specimens obtained. There is no difference in the 
plumage of the sexes.” 
Some years afterwards Masters recorded it from Cape York Peninsula. 
Just recently H. L. White has published M‘Lennan’s notes on Northern 
Territory birds as follows : “ Little Archer River, 6/7/15. Pairs noted along 
the small creeks in mangroves. King River. Occasionally noted alon^ the 
river and mangrove creeks. Howard Island Channel, 31/1/16. One noted. 
Stomach, small fish.” 
When Ramsay wrote the Catalogue of the Kingfishers in the Australian 
Museum, he noted the difference in coloration between the birds from Port 
Essmgton and those from Cairns, Queensland, also noting that South-east 
New Guinea birds were comparable with the latter. 
In the Emu, Vol. X., 1910, a series of notes was printed, made by 
Broadbent twenty years before, and of Alcyone pusilla he observed, p. 235: 
101 
