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I. have followed Profe ssor Schlegel in refe rrin g Scopoli’s name albivenkis, which has
been g enera lly considered b y Orn ithologists to be a synonym o f the p resen t species, to the
African Brown-hooded Kingfisher (Halcyon fuscicapilla). For, as Professor Schlegel
remarks, Sonnerat described many African sijecies, even th e Secretary, as coming from
th e P h illip in e Islands. I t will, moreover, be seen by reference to Sonnerat’s original
description and figm’e ,' and to th e description b y Scopoli,^ th a t th e b ird represented by
th em has a brown h ead and back, a whitish m ark before the eye, an d each o f th e breast
feathers marked w ith a c en tra l lin e o f brown ; characters which i t will be seen by a glance
a t th e figure iu th e p late opposite, are to ta lly inapplicable to th e p resen t species. All
these p oints, however, a re ch arac te ristic o f th e Afric an bird.
T h e g eographical range o f H . pileata is ra th e r extended. J lr . B ly th (I. c.) gives its
h a b ita t as “ E a s te rn side o f th e Bay o f Bengal ; ra re on th e western ; Bengal Sundarbans ;
Malayan P en in su la and Archipelago ; China.” In the la tte r country, Mr. SAvinhoe says,'
i t is a re sid en t species from Canton to th e Yangtze, b u t rare in the neighbourhood of
Amoy.'* The Chinese use th e feathers for man u factu rin g fans, as do also the Siamese,
according to Sir R o b e rt Schomburgk.
The Black-Avinged Kingfisher was also m et w ith a t IIoiig-Kong b y th e Novara
E x p ed itio n . Plerr Von Pelzeln, to Avhom we are indebted for a scientific account o f the
re su lts o f th is E x p ed itio n , has published ( I . c.) th e following note h y H e rr Ze lebor:—•
“ I t was m et w ith on th e 10th o f J u ly a t S hek-Pe i-Wen in a small clump o f trees, in
which Avas a spring. T h e c ry o f th is b ird Avas like th a t o f tire E u ro p ean Great Spotted
Woodpecker.”
Captain B rig g s forwarded some specimens o f th e p resent b ird to Mr. Gould,® from
TaAmy in th e Tenasserim provinces, and Captain Beavan, iu his paper on th e “ Birds o f
th e Andaman Islan d s ,” * gives a note o f Colonel T y tle r’s to th e effect th a t the b ird is
common there.
I have in m y oavu collection th re e specimens from Slalacca, and Mr. J lo o re , in h is
v.aliiable essays on th e collection formed b y Dr. Cantor in the Malay Peninsula,® observes,
“ I t Avould appear to be tole rably common a t P in an g , Avhere th is species Avas collected.”
The folloAving a re Mr. J e rd o n ’s notes on th e p resen t bird, tak en from his
“ Bird s o f I n d ia : ”—
“ Th is line Kingfisher is found b u t v e ry ra re ly in In d ia and Ceylon. I once obtained
a .specimen, which I sh o t myself, a t Te llich erry on the Malabar Coast : and I have seen
oth ers from th e same locality. I t is also ra re in Bengal, b u t has been killed as h ig h up
th e Ganges as M o n g y r; i t is more common, howe\’’er, in the Sunderbuns, and on the
Burmese Coast, as fa r as th e !Malay Pen in su la and Islands, ex ten d in g eastAvard to China.
I t appears to prefer Avooded co u n tries n e a r th e sea, o r mouths o f large rivers. I t is said
to feed b o th on fish an d on insects, and has a h a rsh croAving call.”
Mr. Lay ard o b s e r v e s , “ ThisloA-ely Kingfisher has b u t once fallen u n d e r my notice
as an in h ab itan t o f Ceylon. The specimen in question Avas sh o t in the Jaffna d istric t in
th e island o f Y a len n y .' I know n o th in g personally o f its hah its.”
Mr. Gould has g iven a b eau tifu l illu stra tio n o f th e p resent species in his “ Birds o f
Asia ,” concerning Avhich Mr. Blyth, in h is commentary on J e rd o n ’s “ Birds o f In d ia ,” *
remarks, “ In Mr. Gould’s figure in th e Birds o f Asia, th e bill should be deeper and
b r ig h t c o ra l-re d ; and th e head in th e liv in g b ird looks considerably larg er, AA'hile the
body-feathers a re more compressed.’’
I have now before me a specimen collected a t Sarawak by Mr. Wallace, Avhich has
th e b ill a little sh o rte r and s to u te r, and th e u n d e r p a rts more rich ly coloured th an my
Malacca specimens, th o u g h in th e measurements o f th e A\dngs and tail they agree e.xactly.
a. VoT. Nov. Guin. p. 65. pi. 31.
d. Ibis, 1860, p. 49.
g. P. Z. S. 1854, p. 268.
b. Del. Faun. ot. Flor. Ins. 11. p. 90. r. P. Z. S. 1863, p. 2
e. P. Z. S. 1859, p. 150. I. Ibis, 1867, p. 314.
h. Ann. Nat. Hist. 1853, p. 171. i. Ibis, 1866, p.
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