s o m / l i |h t s , m d i r / r f t o f r f t S k t t o l T L i s l ! 7 green ish tin g e in
b r o a c f S e l h 7 p f s s f o ! f r o 7 t h T b r £ r f ^ ^ ^ o f green towards tbe foreliead ; a
below t b i s a l i n e ! f b i a ? k f r t b r s T / d 7 l 1 °™® Z oncircbng tb e h e ld ;
o f tb e neck, and e n c lo s f / I r / Z ^ e / r ‘"®
miobal c o lla r; back and sSamilars doll „ / „ ! ’■ i i ? ■ “ » ‘»® forming a
to c o b a lt ; quills black, th e i i / e r web I f o t e S ’to i b rig h te r blue, incUnmg
secondaries, edged with blu e; lower p ortion o f tbpl-. f ' o f the
fS L S iii r “ * • ^
b e s e t o o n tb e b /c k " " o f t b l S T T ^ ^ marks a re to
m arkings on t b / f Z S r s / f “tbeT e'ck I m u L Z f ¥ b e T - S t ‘/ d b™ ’ l “ ‘ f ‘rainiTerse
. to th e wing-coverts. (Tongataboo.) ’ fulvous edgings
ir i e n d ly l s la n d s : Tongataboo
! r t f e * ° P to i f c Y ® ™ ' good N a tn rT sU ik ! j L w v l l k c / T l Y i l l I k T th Y s l t o d l
a s ^ s i i s
K i n v t Y T / Y Z f t ' “/® / , - " “™ ,"® ® ? " f t ‘f t f t determination o f the “ Sacred
b v . S Y Y r / l l ! t h ’ ‘ftr® r™ »0 b ttfe d oubt tb a t tbe b ird here fiomred
m ! r e t/ ■ ® F »'•> “ var. A ” beinS the
T a v e f i Y i X r e l o'f T h t Z ® / f t™ » ® ° » *»!? E f tg 8 >'»er a re remarkable, and aith^ough
P>ritisli Museum which have the crown white, with the exception of a few green feathers in
the middle.
I have taken g re a t pains to collate th e synonymy o f this species, and I believe w ith good
effect. I have examined personally the types o f Mr. Gray’s H . superciliosa, which is the
p resent bird in various stages o f plumage, and to the kindness o f my friends Drs. Hartlau b
aud Finscli I am indebted for the loan of th e type o f th eir recently described Halcyon
cassini, which is certainly H . sacra. I t is, however, to the credit o f these eminent
Na tu ra lists to state th a t they are the only ones who have rig h tly identified the tru e H . sacra
of Gmelin, and consequently th e ir work is the only tru stiv o rth y guide to the correct
synonymy o f th is and the allied species. As regards the Halcyon pealei o f the same authors,
I believe this also to be only a stage o f H . sacra.
Mr. Brenchley has recently b rought home a beautiful series o f this Kingfisher fi-om
Tongataboo. Attached to one o f his specimens now in my collection is the following n o te :
“ Male: eyes, dark b row n : contents o f stomach, Crustacea : Tongatabu, Ju ly , 1865.”
The descriptions are principally from specimens b rought from Oceania by Mr. Brenchley.
T h a t o f the very old bird, however, is tak en from a specimen kindly len t m e by Mr. Gould.
The figures in the p late represent wh a t I believe to be the very old bird (Avith the head
almost white), the ad u lt (w ith a white eyebroAv), and the young (with a cinnamon coloured
eyebrow).
I
N:IP
Ut, .