( i f
i r , )
Hah. A lo n g th e *
along th e east o f the
Islan d s {Tytler, Beavan); x liiumg ynuui. i x .n .o .) ; Malacca u . üivinkoe); Ja v a
Banjermassing (Motley); Labuan (Motley and Dillwyn); Philippine Islands
(mus. L u g d .); Fo rmo sa (Nicin/ioe); Ja p a n (Siebold); Celebes ( IFa^/cici).
T h is species has been called Halcyon coromandeliana b y most ornithologists, as
th ey have supposed th a t th e Alcedo coromandeliana o f Scopoli was founded on Sonnerat’s
1 18th plate. A close examination o f th e te x t, however, shows th a t th is is n o t th e case,
a n d I do n o t th in k I can more clearly sta te the facts th an by giving an e x tra c t from the last
le tte r addressed to me on th e subject by L o rd Walden, whose skill in d o te rm in in o - the
descriptions g iv en by th e older au thors is well known to all ornithologists. I quole as
follows :—
“ In th e ‘ Speciinina Zoologic a’ o f Scopoli occur some o f th e most c u rio u s and
flagrant_ inaccuracies to be found among th e older authors. Alcedo coromandeliana. Scop.
No 53, is described from So n n e rat’s 119th plate, Guepier jaune de la côte de Coromandel,
n o tw ith stan d in g th a t Scopoli quotes p. 212, t. 118, Avliere th e description and plate o f the
‘ Coromandel Kin g fish e r’ o f La th am a re given. The odd th in g , too, is th a t Scopoli
classes i t r ig h tly among th e Kingfishers. Afte r th e specific description o f his so-callcd
Alcedo coromandeliana comes wh a t h e terms th e ‘ characte r generis* o f th e species.
This, y o u will find, is taken from th e in tro d u c to ry remarks o f Sonnerat on th e affinities
o f th e Bee-eaters to th e Kingfishers (Yoy. In d . p. 213). But w h a t is more odd still is,
th a t Scopoli fu rth e r on (No. 66) g ives an o th e r title to Guepier de la côte de Coromandel,
calling i t Certhia lutea, and quoting th e page and p late correctly. T h e subject of Sonne rat’s
119th p late is o f course a x a n th o n isn i o f Merops viridis. La tham quotes both o f Sonnei-at’s
p lates correctfy—Pl. 118 is liis Alcedo coromanda, a n d P l. \1 9 Merops coromandus.”
“ Scopoli made a similar k in d o f b lu n d er u nder his title o f Muscicapa malabarica
(Dissemumis). In the diagnosis h e correctly describes Sonne rat’s l l l t l i plate, b u t the m ore
detailed description is o f So n n erat’s n e x t species, Gobe-mouche à longue queue de Ginqi
— Turdus (Kittacincla) macrourus (Gm .).’’
From th e above reasons it follows th a t the name o f H . coromandelianus (Scop.) must be
rejected, and th e n ame o f H . coromanda (Lath.) m u st be retained. Of course it is difficult at
th is period o f time clearly to make o u t th e exact locality from whence Sonne rat’s bird really
came, b u t I believe it most likely to have been from Malacca; on th e coast o f Coromandel
i t c e rta in ly never occurs. Yaking, therefore, the small form w hich is d istrib u ted th ro u g h o u t
th e Indo-Malayan sub-region as the ty]ie o f th e species, we may apply th e name of H.
coromanda to th e b ird found th ro u g h o u t all these countries. In Jajian a slightly larg er
form occurs, which has been separated b y Bonaparte as H. Schlegeli, while in Celebes a still
la rg e r form is found, differing also in th e extreme bi-illiancy o f its colours. This is the
H . n t fa o f Wallace.
i t will be seen th a t I do n o t award specific ran k to either Halcyon Schlegeli n or to H.
7'ufa, as th ey a re a t b e st only la rg e r races o f the o rd in ary Indo-Malayan H . coromanda, nor
h ave I arriv ed a t th is conclusion w ith o u t a careful consideration o f tlie subject, and after an
examination o f th e finest series o f Rud d y Kingfishers ever b ro u g h t togethe r in any one
c o u n try in th e world, my own collection alone containing no less th an fourteen specimens
from all localities. In addition to th is, I was enabled th ro u g h th e kindness o f Mr. Wallace,
Mr. Swinhoe, an d o th e r friends, to take ivith me for comparison w ith the fine series a t Leiden
all th e specimens contained in th e ir cabinets, so th a t on a rriv in g a t the Leiden Museum I
h ad before me a t lea st fo rty examples from every locality where th e species has }®et been
m et with.
In size th e Jap an ese R u d d y Kingfisher is s lig h tly superior to the o rd in a ry form o f
Halcyon coromanda', found th ro u g h o u t th e Inrlo-Malayaii sub-region, and the genei'al coloratioii
is somewhat duller, b u t it is impossible to draw any exact line o f demarcation, for the
Formosan b ird ought, according to its size, to be ranked as intermediate between the birds
from J a p a n and Celebes, th o u g h i t has the dull colour of th e former instead of the b rig h t
coloration o f th e la tte r sub-species. The Philippine R u d d y Kingfisher is also dull-coloured.
The sub-species from Celebes is the most b rillian t o f all th e Rud d y Kingfishers, and
has th e reddish colour o f th e u n d e r surface continued rig h t up to the tliroat, and has
also the blue o f th e lower p a rt o f th e back much more extended, b u t neither of these
characters, th o u g h sufficiently d istin c t in the ad u lt, are thoroughly constant, and every
o-radation can be found. In th e Celebean sub-species, certainly, th e ex ten t o f the red on the
th ro a t increases w ith age, and, ju d g in g from th e material I have examined, it is the case
with tlie Indo-Malayan b ird also. In the y oung plumage the b rea st is barred and the
back-streak is almost entfrely white, while in th e older bird s th is becomes b rillian t cobalt,
having occasionally a s lig h t lilac tinge. The colours fade on exposure to the light.
The following measurements clearly show the relative size o f these sub-species:—
Halcyon coromanda
Locality.
Penang, (mus B. B. S.)
Malacca.(j?ms B.Swinhoe.)
''nmatra. (mus B. B. S.)
Sumatra. (Wallace.)
Labuan. (Motley).
Formosa. (Swinhoe.)
Japan (Siehold)-*
Japan (Siebold).*
Mivcassar. (Wallace).\
Menado. (Fraser).
10-0
9-3
10-0
9-0
10-0
100
10-Ô
10-0
110
lO'O
Itostr. Alæ. Tarsi.
2-3 4-2 0-5
2'1 4-7 0-5
2-1 4-1 0-5
2.1 3-8 0‘5
2 1 4-0 0-5
2-3 o'O 0 5
2‘2 1 4-7 0-5
1-9 ! 4-6 0-5
2 4 4-7 0-55
2-4 i 4-3 0-55
» Types o f H. scMegeli. t T } !« o f H. rufa.
In In d ia its ran g e is th u s given b y Dr. J e rd o n (Ac.) :—
“ This lovely Kingfisher is found along the foot o f the Himalayas, in Nepaul and
Sikim ; also in th e Sunderbuns, and along th e eastern coast o f the Bay o f Bengal. I much
d oubt i f it has been found in the so u th of India, albeit named from the Coromandel coast.
I obtained one specimen from tbe banks o f the Teesta R iver in Sikim, and Mr. B ly th has seen
i t en route from Calcutta to Bu rdwan .” . , ,
I t appears to be a ra re bird in Sikim, where i t was obtained by Captain Bulger, who
o b s e i\e s one specimen o f this most lovely b ird , from th e Teesta River, and
th e Shikaree reg ard ed i t as a g re a t prize. The amethystine lu stre o f its plumage^^is
wonderfully beautiihl, ren d erin g it, in my opinion, th e handsomest o f the whole fi‘milyj_
Mr. Swinhoe informs u s th a t this species “ appears to be resid en t in Fonnosa,^inhabit-
ino- the lakes and riv e rs o f th e in te rio r o f the island, b u t is by no means common.’’
° In the Andaman Islands i t is a common bird, accorduig to Colonel Tytler.
The late i l r . Motley, so well known for his researches into the economy o f Bornean
birds, writes as follows , c n i
“ The habits o f th e Labuan Kingfishers appear to he much alike ; th ey feed almost
en tirely a t sea, and a lthough many o f the b rooks abound w ith small fish they are very seldom
to be seen far from the beach. A person walking along the shore a t high water may oitcn
see them d a rt o u t of the ju n g le and dash into tb e water, seize th eir prey, and c a rry it off
again among th e trees. They never perch on stones o r bare branches over the water, hke
the European species.” _ , /. , • i ^ i • i
T h e description is tak en from a P enang specimen in my collection, o f w hich the hinder
fio-nre in the plate is a representation. The front figure in the plate represents the type oi
Halcyon r-ufa, and is tak en from the specimen in Mr. Wallace’s collection, winch he kmdly
len t to me.
I ,
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