RED-BACKED KINGFISHER 
This species is remarkable in the presence of red on the back and has 
no near relation as far as can be judged from present-day species. Its 
range is peculiar, being as a rule absent from coastal districts but also 
from the interior proper, though extending almost all round Australia. 
It was first described by Gould who wrote : “ This Kingfisher is an inhabitant 
of the interior, but over what extent of country it may range is not yet known. 
The only parts where I myself observed it were the myaU-brushes {Acacia 
pendula) of the Lower Namoi, particularly those growing on the edge of the 
large plain skirting the Nundawar range. It was usually seen sitting very 
upright on the dead branches of the myall- and gum-trees, sometimes on 
those grovdng out on the hot plains, at others, on those close by the riverside. 
I succeeded in obtaining both old and young birds, which, judging from the 
plumage of the latter, I should suppose had left their breeding-place about 
a month before I arrived in the neighbourhood of the Namoi, in December. 
I also saw in this district the common or Sacred Kingfisher, but in far 
less abundance than between the ranges and the coast. This latter species 
may be hereafter found to be an inhabitant of the country bordering the 
sea, while the Red-backed Kingfisher may be exclusively a denizen of the 
interior. The unusual colouring of the back at once distinguishes it from 
all the other members of the genus inhabiting Australia, but in its 
general economy and mode of living it presents no observable difference. 
Gilbert procured examples of this species during Dr. Leichardt’s overland 
expedition ; Captain Sturt found it at the dep6t in South Australia ; and 
I have received specimens from the interior of Swan River ; consequently 
it has a very wide range. . . Mr. Elsey informed me that he saw the 
Red-backed Kingfisher on the Macarthur River, about one hundred miles 
from the coast, in lat. 26° 15' S.” 
Since Gould’s time there has not been a lot recorded about the habits 
of the bird, which consequently appear to be not unlike those of the next 
genus, but a detailed study of its life-history would be very useful. 
IVIr. Thos. P. Austin has given me the following observations : “ The 
first time I noticed the present species in this district (Cobbora, New 
South Wales) was in the spring of 1907, and since then I have seen a few 
pairs every year : they arrive in the spring, and always breed here, drilling 
a hole into the bank of a river or dry creek, seldom near w^ater. They 
build no nest, simply laying four or five eggs on the dry, powdered earth 
on the bottom of the egg-chamber at the end of their nesting-burrow, 
which is usually about fifteen inches in length, but sometimes much more. 
They must have wonderfully strong beaks, because they are able to drill 
holes into the very hardest clay, which is often mixed up with gravel ; 
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