CEYX. G ¥ ,M T lA N A 9Tnsiranv.
CEYX GENTIAN A, Tristram.
Gentian Kingfisher.
Ceyx gentiana, Tristram, Ibis, 1879, p. 438, pi. xi.—Salvad. Orn. Papuasia e delle Molucche, i. p. 423 (1880).
C anon T r is t r am has kindly lent us the type specimen o f this lovely Kingfisher, which was discovered by
Lieut. Richards in Maikara Harbour, in the island o f San Christoval, one o f the Solomon group.
The original specimen is in the collection o f Canon Tristram, who pointed out the characters of the
species in ‘ The Ibis ’ (/. c.). T h e plate by Mr. Smit, accompanying his paper, gives a poor representation
o f the species, the colouring o f the bird being quite wrong in tint, and the long scapulars
being left out altogether. The species is, however, a very distinct one, the only other Ceyx with a
black bill being C. solitaria, which is yellow below.
The following is a description o f the typical specimen :—
Adult female (type of species). Mantle and scapulars black, washed with purplish blue, the feathers
being mesially streaked with dark cobalt; entire back, rump, and upper tail-coverts bright silvery
greenish cobalt, a little more purplish on the l a t t e r ; lesser, median, and inner greater coverts black,
tipped with purplish blue, with a narrow mesial line o f co b a lt; remainder of the greater coverts, bastard-
wing, primary-coverts, and quills black, slightly shaded with purplish blue externally; tail-feathers black,
edged with purplish b lu e ; crown of head black, all the feathers tipped with purplish blue, each feather
with a central line o f brighter co b alt; the spots thicker on the nape and hind neck, which appear
almost entirely purplish b lu e ; lores and base o f forehead black, with a white loral s p o t; feathers round
eye, ear-coverts, and cheeks black, the feathers mesially streaked with purplish b lu e ; throat and under
surface of body white, as also a longitudinal patch on the sides o f the n eck; the upper breast with a patch
of black feathers washed with blue ; flanks with black s tre ak s ; thighs blackish; under tail-coverts white,
tipped with purplish b lu e; under wing-coverts and axillaries white, with a black bar across the former;
quills below dusky, white along the edge o f the inner w eb : “ bill black; feet flesh-colour; iris bluish
black ” (Richards). Total length 5*5 inches, culmen 1*55, wing 2 5 5 , tail 1*1, tarsus 0*45.
T h e Plate illustrates the species, o f the natural size, in two positions. The figures are drawn from
the snecimen lent to us by Canon Tristram.
1 [R. B. S.]