Clains pecierwm.
a. Rostro n i g r o ........................................................................................................!• melanorhyncha.
b. Rostro rubro.
a’. Scapulavibus b n m n e i s .................................................................................3. amauroptera.
b'. Scapulai'ìbus cyaueis vel virìdi-cyancis.
a”. Capite baud pileato, collo postico concolori.
a”'. Major : suprà v irid i-cy a n e a...............................................................3. gonidi.
b'". Minor: suprÈl Irtissime cyanea.........................................................4. leucocephala.
fi". Capite indistinctè pileato, ocbrascenti-cìnereo ...................................5. fraseri.
c". Capite distincte pileato.
c"'. Pileo haud cyaneo lavato.
a"". Pileo a lb e sc e n ti-c in c re o ............................................................... C. burmanica.
fi'"'. Pileo brunneo.
aa. Major: v i r i d i s ...........................................................................7. gurial.
bb. Minor : c y a n c o -v irid is ............................................................... 8. malaecensis.
d'". Pileo pallidè brunneo, viridi-cyaneo distiuctè lavato . . . . 9.floresiana.
I t will always b e a moot question whether several o f th e above species are n o t climatic
modifications o f one typical fo n n ; b u t 1 th in k , from th e fact o f each bird mentioned possessing
a certain clearly specified character, they may all be regarded as good species.
S n b fam . II. D acelonina:.
s generum Daceloninarum.
a. Rostro longiore quam cauda.
a’. Digitis ti’i b u s 6. Ceyx.
V. Digitis quatuor.
a". Halluce longiore quam digito i n t e r i o r e 7. Ceycopsis.
fi". Halluce digitum interiorem aequante.
o'". Tarso longiore quam h a llu c e 8. Myioceyx.
¿'". Tarso hallucem m q u a n t e 9. Ispidina.
b. Rostro breviore quam caudà.
a'. Culmine Icevi, rotundato.
a". Rectricibus 13.
o'". Commissura s e r r a t à 10. Syma.
b'". Commissuril integrà.
a"". Naribus lincaribus.
aa. Tarso breviore quam halluce cum ungue mensurato.
aa'. Commissurà reetà : sexibus s im i l i b u s .........................l ì . Halojon.
bb'. Commissurà valde curvata : sexibus dissimilibus . . \2 . Dacelo.
bb. Tarso longiore quam halluce cum ungue mensurato.
cd. Rostro s im o ..............................................................................13- Todirhamphus.
dd'. Rostro compresso, culmine rotundato.
aa". Commissura r c o tà ..........................................................Monachalcyon.
bb". Commissura c u r v a t à .......................................................15- Caridonax.
¿"". Naribus parvis, o b l o n g a t i s ...............................................16- Carcineules.
fi". Rectricibus 1 0 ................................................................................. 17. Tanysiptera.
V. Culmine simo vel sMcato.
c". Culmine recto, in te g ro ......................................................................18. Cittura.
d". Culmine versus apicem valde deeurvato e t su lc a to .................. 19. Melidora.
Although it is very difficult to determine some o f the above genera, I firmly believe th a t
they are all well established, th e principal difibrence being found in th e bill, as will be
seen by a reference to the plate. As, however, these differences are those o f degree, I have
sought for secondary characters in my diagnosis o f th e genera, in order to aid the researches
o f th e student. F irst o f all we have the most Alcedinine-looking birds of th e subfamily in
the small section where the bill is longer th an th e tail ; and i t is here we must first look for
the chain o f affinity. This is speedily found in the genera Isp id in a and Ceyx on the one
haud, and in the genera Corythornis and Alcyone on th e other. I have abeady spoken of
the connecting links between Ceyx and Alcyone ; and i t is n o t h a rd to find another direct
affinity between Corythornis and Ispidina, n o t only in th e genera, b u t in the species ; for it
would n o t be difficult to believe th a t Corythornis galerita and Ispidina leucogastra were one
and the same species a t no very distant period o f time. Secondary facts tend to confirm this
suggestion, especially since bo th species occur- in th e same limited district, being confined in
th e ir range to the countries and islands bordei-ing on the bights o f the west coast of
Africa*. In ordinary specimens o f C. galerita th e difference is sufficiently s trik in g ; b u t
sometimes the old birds get very white on th e belly ; and this circumstance, added to the
fact th a t C. galerita has a shorter crest th an th e other two species o f Corythornis, renders it
by no means impossible to mistake an ad u lt example for I sp id in a leucogastra. Again, the
last-named species exhibits a slight keel on th e bill, and is p artly piscivorous in h ab it ; so
th at it is by no means certain th a t Prince Bonaparte and Mr. G. R. Gray are so very far
wrong in placing it in Corythornis. Indeed the species may he considered eith e r an aberrant
Corythornis or an aberrant Ispidina. Let no one, however, suppose th at, on account o f this
apparent connexion between the two genera, I consider them identical. No t in the least ; for
the true Ispidince, such as I . p ic ta and I . natalensis, are entirely different in form and in
habit. The Ispidintx nest in holes o f trees (never in banks), and, again, are purely insectivorous.
Some, such as I . madagascariensis, are only found in th e th ick forests, while others
frequent the banks o f streams, b u t ne^'er feed on fish. Two species, which I have included
in the genus Ispidina in my ‘ Monograph,’ are so decidedly aben-ant th at, on account o f their
flat bills and longer tarsi, I propose to separate them under a distinct genus, which may be
called Myioceyx. The characters are given in the P la te of Genera (figs. 6, 6 cr, 6 h). Leaving
Ispidina madagascanensis as the last o f the Ispidinw, we have to consider now th e n ex t step
in our approach to Melidora, th e curious genus Ceycopsis from Celebes. This appears to he
a direct lin k between Isp id in a and Ceyx, n o t only in form b u t also in combining th e peculiar
coloration of the two genera. The absence o f tru e Ceyx from Celebes has always been
noticed by Air. AA'allace and ourselves as a peculiar feature in the avifauna o f tlia t island ;
* This we say advisedly ; for we do not believe that C. galerita really oecure in North-cast Africa.
b 2