THE BIRDS OF LIBERIA 681 
the half-submerged stems of bushes and fly low and silently just along the 
surface. It is a kingfisher that one does not see unless going along the water- 
courses by boat. 
Corythornis cristata cristata (Pallas). Malachite Kingfisher 
Alcedo cristata Pallas, in Vroeg, Cat. Adumbr., no. 55, p. 1, 1764: Cape of Good Hope. 
Length about 5.5 inches; feathers of top of head bright blue banded with black, eye stripe, 
nape, body above and tail-coverts ultramarine: lores, sides of head and neck, belly and under tail- 
coverts rusty; throat and stripe on side of neck white; tail black washed with blue; bill and feet 
coral red. Africa south of Sahara. 
This is the C. cyanostigma of Johnston’s book on Liberia. Although Biitti- 
kofer found it tolerably common on the Du, sitting in low brushwood above 
the water, and he records other specimens from the Marfa and Junk rivers, 
we did not meet with it. No doubt it is confined to the waterways. 
Ispidinia picta picta (Boddaert). Pygmy Kingfisher 
Todus pictus Boddaert, Tabl. des Pl. Enlum., p. 49, 1783: Senegal. 
Size of a wren; crown and back cobalt blue, tail black, sides of face tan color, except the ear- 
coverts which have purplish reflection; the lower surface of breast and body tinged with ochra- 
ceous; bill red. Senegal to Angola and Kenya. 
This little kingfisher is probably uncommon, though Biittikofer secured 
specimens at various localities from Fisherman Lake near Cape Mount, to the 
St. Paul’s and St. John’s rivers. He found it not only along streams but also 
about clearings, feeding on insects. It may be readily told from the follow- 
ing species by its all-buff breast and belly. 
Ispidinia leucogaster bowdleri (Neumann). Sierra Leone White-bellied 
Pygmy Kingfisher 
Alcedo leucogaster bowdleri Neumann, Bull. Brit. Orn. Club, vol. 23, p. 14, 1908: Sierra Leone. 
Similar to the preceding species, but the sides of head and body bright rufous, the throat and 
middle of breast and belly pure white; the rufous of the sides of the breast may occasionally form 
a nearly complete band across. Sierra Leone to Gold Coast. 
Although Biuttikofer in all his collecting in Liberia took only two of these 
little kingfishers (one on the Du and one on the Farmington River), it happened 
that the only ones of the genus that we obtained were of this species, both 
from Paiata on the St. Paul’s River, in early October. So far as observed, it 
occurs along either large or small streams, following the waterways into clearings 
where they may be mere pools. 
Halcyon senegalensis fuscopileus Reichenow. Garden Kingfisher; 
Forest Red-and-black-billed Kingfisher 
Halcyon senegalensis fuscopileus Reichenow, Orn. Monatsb., 1906, p. 171: Jaunde. 
Length 9 inches; crown gray, wings blue with a broad central black area; tail blue above, 
black below; chin whitish, breast and abdomen gray tinged with blue; upper mandible red, lower 
black; feet black. Sierra Leone to Angola. 
H. cyanoleucus of both Biittikofer and Chubb is presumably identical with 
this form. It is the most common and conspicuous of the Liberian kingfishers, 
