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wmg-coverts, black washed w ith b r ig h t b lu e ; lower p a r t o f th e back, rump aud u p p e r tail-
c o v e r t /r u f o u s washed w ith b r ig h t lila c ; wing-feathe rs blackish, th e in n er web rufous
from th e b a s e ; t a il ru io u s, in some specimens b la c k ; a spot in f ro n t o f the eye, cheeks
sides oi th e neck an d u nder-surfa ce o f th e body, pale o ran g e ; ch in and a p a tch o f feathers
o n th e side o f th e neck, w h ite ; a sp o t a t th e base o f th e b ill and a p a tch o f feathers a t the
side o f th e neck from above th e ear, b lu e ; biU and feet co ra l-re d ; eyes brown. Total
l e n ^ h 5. 3 inches, o f biU from fro n t, 1.2, from gape 1.6, win g 2.3, ta il 1, ta rsu s 0.2,
middle toe 0.4, h in d toe 0.2. o ? > »
Ceylon (Jerdon), Nepal (Hodgson), P en an g (Cantor), Singapore (wm
Fhilad.), Sum atra (mus. L u g d ) , J a v a (mus. Brit.) Ph ilip p in e Islands {Cuming, mus. Brii.).
I n an elaborate a rticle p u blished by Dr. P u ch e ran in th e “ Revue e t Magazin de
Zoologie” for 1861, this learned Ornithologist endeavours to prove th a t in accordance with
th e s tr ic t observance o f th e ru le o f p rio rity , th e name tridactyla should be applied to the
red-backed species I t seems th a t bo th species were well knoivn to the
older_authors, all o f whom were wo n t to consider the red-backed b ird as th e female o r else
a v a rie ty o f th e blue-backed species.
= - w only a F ren ch tran sla tio n o f
V osmaer s work a t h an d when he wrote h is paper, and he a rg u es th at, as bo th bird s were
k nown to Vosmaer and L innæus, b y whom th ey were considered to be sexes of th e same
b ird , th e blue-backed species h av in g been separated b y Gmelin in 1788 u n d e r th e name of
Alcedo purpurea, th e name tridactyla should fall on th e supposed female. To tlie casual
observer tb is reasoning appears fair enough, b u t th e Zoological Society have lately acquired
a copy o f th e o rig in a l edition o f V osmaer’s work, and I was ra th e r astonished to find on
ex amin atio n th a t th e D u tch a u th o r was n o t a binominalist and never gave a scientific name
to any bird. Dr. P u c h e ra n is ag ain in e rro r w hen he talks o f th e b ird b e ing first described
b y L in næu s and afterwards b y Pallas, as th e 1 2 th fascicule o f the la tte r ’s " Spicilegia” has
a p rio r ity o f two years over th e “ Mantissa” of Linnæus and as Pa lla s gave a v e iy clear
d e scription o f th e p resent species u n d e r th e name o f Alcedo tridactyla, th is n ame o u g h t to be
a p p lied to th e blue-backed bird. Vosmaer’s work need n o t be tak en in to consideration at
all, as i t conta ins no scientific names. T h e red-backed species, considered by Pa lla s to be
p ro b ab ly th e female o f h is Alcedo tridactyla, was described as a d istin c t species for th e first
tim e by Mr. Strickland in 1846, u n d e r th e name o f C. 7-ufdorsa.
“ This v ery lovely species,” write s Mr. Je rd o n , in h is “ B irds o f In d ia ,” “ is scattered
th o u g h far from common, over all In d ia with Ceylon. Col. Sykes procured i t in the
Deccan ; b u t i t seems to be a coast b ird for the most p a rt. I obtained i t in Southern In d ia
and i t has been kiUed nea r Calcutta. I t appears to be more common in Malayana. I t
feeds exclusively on small fish aud aqua tic insects.”
The P en an g Kingfisher is u n d o u b ted ly the most widely d istrib u ted species o f the
whole genus, being found all over th e Indo-Malayan Islands, and i t is even m et w ith in the
Philip p in es. The B ritish Museum contains a beautiful specimen obtained in these islands,
b y th e la te Mr. H. Cuming, and th e Leiden Museum has also a y o u n g b ird from th e same
locality.
My descrip tio n and measurements token from a v e ry b e au tifu l male in my own
collection from P en an g , and th e figures rep re sen t a p a ir o f birds in the Leiden Museum.
The left h an d figure, i t will be observed, has a red tail, while th e ta il o f th e r ig h t hand
b ird is blackish. T h is difference m ay be sex u al o r th e sign o f a y oung bird, and I
incline to th in k m y self i t is an indic ation o f immaturity.
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