A d u lt Male. Head crestofl x • i
o f o f t h e t s i
sp o tted and tipped with wWte r u n f e Y ? L T f f P“‘®» i ‘” 1 fe a th eT r biack
= ’ "■■=' i. fC “
A m Ferual.^ Similar to th e a d u lt male, b u t b a s o u ly cue baud across tbe breast,
b rea st m a A e d ^ t o t r g ^ e y ^ r f tw ^ ’t o i b f f e i f / Ma®k, and the
across tb e b rea s t n o t cV p le te ? " " feathers, g iv in g a b a rred a p p e L u o e , IhT b au d
(SCmmburgk), Soutberu China a s i n o r i r a s 'S 'b ! ! g t
" d ib * Y tb {™ e p T a tL ¥ 'o ? tb { fX m to ¥ 'a ild ^ to draw from the MS. of the
will be gladly received by us for insertion in tb / re “ ‘*®Y / y additional information
C°"»iderable discussion b a ! ^ s e n l i „ £ t /T® Y ® "* ‘°™ "™ ® » ' « S.]
tb e f em / e o f tb e P ie d Kingfisher—w b e tb e i t to s tn tfo b d “ ®"*'‘y ®f
d istm gm shmg ch a ra c te r o f the la tte r sex as some T f ■ ®®“' ¥ the
found with only one pe ctoral band T ? me ®“ ’®“ y “®“ ' ' Kave been
a tten tio n is g iven to tbe n r o ^ s s ’i w r . 7 “ f “ ®® ®" ®asy
old birds. I bave n o w l v e ry laro e "serfos o f to il »®*'®®®" ‘»® y»“ >g and
rery old male has two bands and t b i a ?/fema le o n lv I I T A “ ® \ , ' »®»®™ *»®t the
males ex a c tly resemble tb e old female t o t / tl »®'“',/® ° » s t»® breast. Tbe youno-
ymd u a lly assumed, and i t is ev id en t t W K K , 7 ° n®! *»® ®®®°"'' “ ®®» b in d S
second band is t o ’be seen ; a ™ S o n a i o{ t o Y , “ “ I d t ' ? "“ y ,“PP®®®®"®® ° f the
in th e black spots on th e thrmf- in<=t no +i ® . I also to be observed
sign o f a y o n iig o l e ‘»®°'“ *® g®®y ®Jg-"gs to tbe feathers o f tbe b r e ls t m l ?
an d G o S lI i r “ ' t o m ! ' *® ^'®" ®"g«®»®®" ®» Asia
scarcely exceeds in len g th o f wing a n I n S e x T 'T ™ ¥ ° ” / y r u a , which, however,
v e ry fine bfrd o f tbe o rd in a ry speoifs. ®-®ample, and is, therefore, probably only a
M a l b e t o l r e S t t l ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ n o t apparently on any good au th o rity ;
m Algeria. "°®"® "“ *®® “ ®‘ a ra re aud occasional v isitm
iojuboscei rvvcea:s—;-
n o t include th is Kingfisher, and stated respecting i t tb a t it
does n o t occur either on th e mainland o f Rumelia nor in th e Peloponnesus, b u t possibly on
th e frlands. This view^has been fully confirmed, as Von d e r Mühle only obtained i t once
on the island o f Tliermia, and remarks a t the same time th a t h e could never find it on the
mainland o f the Peloponnesus. I t was, however, well known to the mariners. I have
once obtained this Kingfisher from th e island o f M ykove. E rh a rd t includes it as a summer
b ird a t the Cyclades. I could ascertain n o th in g about its habits, nidification, o r time of
emigi'ation.”
Demidoff (Voy. Russie Merid. p. 207) say s:—
“ This species has n o t y e t been observed on the n o rth e rn coast o f the Black Sea, and
IS confined to th e shores o f the Sea o f Marmora.”
Dr. T ristram , in his paper on the Ornithology o f Palestine says, th a t "Ceryle inidis is
th e commonest and most conspicuous species in th e country. We first saw i t on th e seashore
in winter, when, in th e months o f N ovember and December, immense n um bers reso rt
to th e sea-coast. They wero p articularly a b u n d an t ab o u t Tji-e and Sidon and all th e way
to Mount Carmel, frequenting the shore, and hovering by dozens over th e sea about a
h u n d red yard s from land, and occasionally p erching irith loud cries on an o u tly in g rock.
A t th is time they^were v e ry wary, and cost us m uch trouble to procure. D u rin g the most
stormy gales o f ivintty th ey continued, regardless o f the w eather, to hover over th e b reakers,
r and anon dashing from into the su rf and apparently diving to th e bottom for th eir
prey. Their flight and actions reminded us v e ry much o f th e Kestril. After rising with
a somewhat jerk in g flight, th ey would poise themselves for several mmutes with a gentle
quiver o f th e wing, and th en suddenly drop perpendicularly, beak foremost, for a header,
or else glide swiftly onwards to tak e u p another aerial post o f observation. They a re a t a ll
tunes o f th e year gi-egarious in small ban d s; a few breed neai’ the Jo rd a n , in the banks of
Wady Kelt, b u t th e gi-eat breeding place which we discovered was on th e plain of
Germesaret, in tbe banks o f the A in Mudawarah. He re th ere was a colony o f about th ir ty
pau-s, only a small proportion, however, o f the bfrds o f th is species which feed on the
teeming myi-iads o f fishes in the hallowed lake. They selected a d ifferent pai't o f th e bank,
and b u ilt in a different position from Halcyon smyrnensis. S hortly before its entrance into
th e lake th e Mudawarah forms a hollow secluded pool, with steep banlcs o f mud about
tw en ty feet hig h above the water, which may h ave a d ep th o f ten o r twelve feet. The sides
o f this little amphitheatre were perforated all around b y th e holes o f th e Great Kingfisher,
b u t all o f th em close to th e water ed^e, about four inches above it. Here on th e 2 8th o f
April, Mr. B a rtle tt took two nests o f s ix and fo u r eggs respectively. I rev isited th e locality
on the 2 1 st and 22nd o f May, and found g re a t numbers o f young b ird s fledged and able to
fash tor themselves, while some nests contained from four to six y o u n g ; b u t 1 still secured
five nests with fresh eggs in each. The only way o f securing them was to sfrip and swim
to th e b ank, while an Arab th rew doivm a rope from above which I fastened ro u n d my w aist
while he h eld the o th er e n d ; and th u s suspended in the pleasant tep id bath, I du g away
vn th the m attock le t down to me till th e eggs were reached. The passages were about
th re e feet and a q u a rte r m length, and the chamber a t the end was simply scooped a t one
end o f the passage, n o t tu rn e d a t .a sharp angle, n o r double, like th a t o f the Bee E ater. In
one instance I had du g long and laboriously when o u t dashed a gi-eat r a t instead o f a Kin g fisher,
leaving h e r s ix naked y oung to th e ir fate. In no instance w ere there any bones with
toe eggs, though, when th ere were young, th ere was a festering heap o f bones and filth.
B u t th e re was always an abundantly-heaped n e s t o f g rass and weeds. In one nest, which e. A U /I______________ __J n r T1 . 1 , . .T r. .. .. - had been visited and robbed by JIr.|'B£u-tlett, th ere was a family of th re ru n fle d g e d ’young^
>t have laid again almost immediately in the same digging. The wh<fle
, o r passed and repassed incessantly d u rin g my operations,
screaming aud shriekingr aa tt tthhee iinnttrruuddeerr most vociferousilyn. , T, h e eggs o f. .t.h.is ‘'species vary
in shape more th an those o f any o th er Kingfisher with which I am acquainted. Tliouo-h
generally ahnost spherical, those o f two nests we captured were decidedly e longated; m
1»
I- I.