- i
“ I f * ® » / t y » “ ® / " g ft® ®i»®® ° f ft® neck yellowish w h ite ; u n d e r surface
S i i g h t l y l ^
2.4, tm l 1.1, ta rsu s 0.26, middle toe 0.7, h in d toe 0.3. (R ig h t-hm k figure ) “
T i r g ” r 3 ™ i ! l h t :Y f T i i 7 S ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ""*» " r i f t i f t »®Swn hue.
0.2, middle toe 0.4, h in d toe 0.2. {Left-handfigure). , win g 2.0, tall 1.66, tarsu s
- jeyurvj.
T ig ré ; Doiigola Ag u la {Blanford), Nu b ia {LicUetvstein),
I v Z e w J ) i Z Z f h Sharpe), Bissao ( F m - r a « , Casamanzi:
i v Z Z T f i f ? Ashantee {mus. J . Gould), Bonny River (Jardine), Gaboon
{ Verieaxix), St. Thomas {mus. Ltsh.), Angola {Monteiro), Cape Colony (Lavard) Natal
(Ayres), Transvaal (Ayres) Caifraria (Wahlberg, Bulger), Zambesi (K irh ). '
v a r i o * “ P“P®®/«®?"%. puWished in th e “ Ib is ,” I en te red fully in to the question o f the
various^ races o f th is species to be m e t with in th e /E th io p ian E egion, and came to the
M s t i f i Z - T Í o f ft® South African birds, th ere was n o th in g to
ju s tify th e ir separation / r o m th e f o m o ccurring in Western Africa and Abyssinia. A t
re ® "* ®®"®*® I laboured u n d e r th e disadvantage o f n o t b eing able to ev amino
M le b i c o Z f T T “ I T / A “ ®ir iu l frieoil M “ f tf f® » ’ / th e o p p o rtu n ity o f "’i n“sp e™oPti®n®g *w®h* ich, 1 was indebftte®d ™to m‘y®
AAbbyisssmMia,n/ Kb rfd as a d istin c t species, and subse*q»u"*e n*t» ®ex®p®e r™ienc e"® h atvoea apor"o v‘eod stehpea rcaoterr etchtlness
o f this view, fo r Mr. W. T. Blanford, th e Geolomst r-re --i.-i -- - f - ■ - • ■■
No. Ses. Locality. Authority. Long tot. Rostr. Al.
1 S xVgula Blanford 4-6 2 $ Bongolo M5 2.25 Blanford 3 4-6 Y’hite Nile 1.2 2-2 Pefcherielc 4 4-75 0.1 E. Gambia X. X
mus R. B. S. 4‘70 1-15
0.0
6 Benguela Monteiro 4-80 1-15
X ¿i
6 "West Africa 2-2 Verreaux 5-00 1-25 2-1
oO NNaattaall Ayres 5'20 1-20 2'8 Ayres 6-00 1-20 2-3 9 Cape Colony (?) mus. R. B. S. 630 1-30 2-3
AU *,i.AA ...c occii a,h it giance th a t th e bird from Western Africa is intermediate in size
between th e one from Ab yssinia and th a t from South Africa. Should, however, some
fu tu r e O rn ith o b g is t be b en t upon sep aratin g th e Abyssinian b ird as d istinct, i t m u st bear
th e name o f Corythornis cyanostigma, as th e type o f th is supposed species came from
T h e Alcedo cyanostigma o f Ruppell has generally been considered distin ct, and I admit
th a t tak in g th e two bird s separa te ly w ith o u t hav in g a series for comparison, th ey would be
pronounced to be different. B u t i t is rea lly no o th e r th an th e y o u n g o f C. cristata. Dr.
H a rtla u b , indeed, in h is v e ry valuable work on W e st African Ornithology, takes th is view,
b u t in th e new work on East-African Ornithology, I see the au th o rs g ran t specific
ran k to Riippell’s bird. Dr. Cabanis supposes A . cyanostigma to be the y o u n g o f C.
cccndeocephala, b u t th is also is erroneous, as we have b y the ex ertio n s o f M r. Keulemans been
made thoroughly acquainted with th e y oung o f the la tte r species, and can affirm th a t i t is
q uite different. I had the pleasure o f e x h ib itin g to Dr. F in sch on h is recen t v isit to th is
. ' xcept
have the body v aried with cobalt bars, which g rad u ally d isappear as th e b ird becomes adult.
To illu stra te this as well as I could, I have had th re e stages o f plumage figured in the p late
accompanying th is description. The c en tre bfrd is fu lly a d u lt; th a t on the left hand
represents th e y o ungest specimen in my collection, and which could n o t long have left the
nest, while on th e rig h t is given a figure o f a yoimg bird, corresponding as nearly as
possible to th e age o f Riippell’s A . cyanostigma.
The present species is spread over the whole o f th e ^Ethiopian region, and is nowhere
rr vrti.r» T).» TJ*:-.....!. xl_X xT* _ J j?_____ ii_ _ ?. 1 . i* ni rm , t
expresses h is belief from personal observation, th a t the tru e C. cristata is occasionally
found there, and he also informs me th a t, according to the natives, a b ird w ith a v e ry long
c re s t was sometimes met with in P rin ce’s Island, so th a t it may be an occasional visitor
th e re also. T h a t these little Kingfishers do sometimes tak e long flights, Mr. Keulemans is
certain, for in some o f his excursions to th e different islands, he has seen th em o u t a t sea,
skimming along the water, a t least five miles from th e n earest point o f land.
Mr. Lay ard [I.e.) observes This beautiful little Kingfisher is abundant th ro u g h o u t
th e colony, wherever a stream o r marsh exists which can supply it with its necessary food.
I t breeds in banks, and lays four o r five glistening w hite eggs, so tran sp a ren t th a t th e yellow
yolk shines plainly tlmough th e shell. I have n o t myself seen th e nest, b u t have been
assured b y many who have, th a t i t consists o f nothing b u t the hones o f the delicate little
fish upon which the bird h abitually feeds.” In th e immediate neighbourhood o f Cape
Town, however, i t seems to b e n o t very common, for my friend Mr. Layard exerted himself
vigorously to procm-e me some specimens, b u t m th o u t success, till a t last he g o t q uite h y
chance two a t once, bo th young birds, which kiUed themselves by flying against a building
in Cape Town.
Mr. Ayi-es’ notes on th e p resent species in Natal are as foUows:—
“ Eye black ; legs and bill b rilliant r e d ; frequents bo th the coast and interior sti-eams,
and feeds on fresh water shrimps and small fish, b u t principally th e former; also on beetles
and in se c ts ; d a rts from a b ough on its prey. Builds in holes in th e banks, merely forming
a small round chamber a t the end o f the hole.”
Mr. Ayres has lately sent some eggs to the Rev. H. B. Trisfram, and I am indebted to
Mr. Gurney for the folloiving note which was received b y him from the same indefatigable
collector. He observes:—
“ I t bores a hole some two feet deep in th e bank o f a river o r streamlet, forming a
small round chamber a t the end, in w’hich four p re tty white eggs are laid.”
The following details have been kindly supplied me b y Mr. J . J . Monteiro:—
“ This beautiful little species is n o t uncommon all over Angola, p articularly on the
smaller rivers and lakes. I t is a lovely object, as i t flies actively about fi-om twig to twig
low over th e water, and it has a p re tty way wffien standing still o f raising and depressing
its beautiful little fan-like crest.”
Dr. Kfrk in his paper on the “ Birds o f the Zambesi Region” infonns us th a t i t is
“ universal on all the w'aters, sittin g on the reeds o r bushes w'hich overhang them, and
dai-ting on its p rey. A lai-ger species o f Alcedo w®as observed among the rapids o f the Shire,
b u t n o t anywhere else.” I th in k th is last species m u st have been Alcedo semitorquata, which
is in Mr. Daivson Rowley’s collection from th e Zambesi.
In Abi-ssinia, according to von Heuglin, th e present species is “ common and resident
in Abyssinia, u p to 10,000 feet above the level o f the sea, b u t is rare r in the Bogos
Coimtry.”