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Show 1869.] MR. R. B. SHARPE ON THE GENUS ALCYONE. 353 Philippine species. The arrangement proposed above, viz. of uniting Alcyone cyanopectus to Ceyx philippinensis under one and the same genus, would be more natural, as we should then have all the three-toed Kingfishers with bright backs under the genus Ceyx; and all those having the upperside uniform under Alcyone. No one who saw the specimens from which I described and figured the species in my ' Monograph' would doubt for an instant that I had placed them in the proper genera, from a study of their external form. The following I believe to be the correct synonymy of the various species of Alcyone, specimens of all of which are at present before me: - 1. ALCYONE CYANOPECTUS. Blue-girt Kingfisher. Ceyx cyanopectus, Lafr. Rev. Zool. 1840, p. 33; Gray, Gen. of Birds, App. p. 5 (1818). Alcyone cyanopectus, Jard. Contr. to Orn. 1850, p. 82 ; Sharpe, Monogr. Alced. pt. 4 (1869). Alcyone cyanipectus, Bonap. Consp. Gen. Av. i. p. 158 (1850); Reich* Handb. Alced. p. 7, t. 396. f. 3060 (1851) ; Bonap. Consp. Vol. Anis. p. 10 (1854) ; Hartl. Journ. f. Orn. 1854, p. lxiv. Alcedo cyanipectus, Schleg. Mus. Pays-Bas, Alced. p. 18 (1863). Alcyone cincta, Jard. Contr. to Orn. 1850 (plate only). A. torque pectorali lazulino lato: mandibula nigricante, maxilla aurantiaca. Hab. in insulis Philippinis. Head deep bluish black, irregularly banded with bright blue, more thickly on the nape; the whole of the back rich shilling cobalt; scapularies and wing-coverts black, broadly washed with dark blue, the latter also spotted with bright cobalt; wing-feathers brownish black, the secondaries narrowly edged with indigo ; tail black, washed with indigo; cheek indigo, spotted with cobalt; a spot in front of the eye, a patch of feathers at the side of the neck, throat and upper part of the breast, whitish tinged with pale sienna; a band across the upper part of the breast and the flanks deep indigo, tinged with brighter blue on the latter ; abdomen and under wing-coverts rufous ; bill brownish black, the lower mandible tinged with orange. Total length 5 inches, of bill from the front 1*4, from gape 1*7, wing 2*5, tail 0*7, tarsus 0*3, middle toe 0*3, hind toe 0*2. Hab. Philippine Islands (Mus. T. C. Eyton). The description and measurements are from Mr. Eyton's specimen, the same described by Sir William Jardine and kindly lent me by Mr. Eyton. 2. ALCYONE LESSONI. Lesson's Kingfisher. Alcyone lessonii, Cass. Proc. Phil. Acad. 1850, p. 69; id. Cat. Hale. Phil. Mus. p. 5 (1852); Sclater, Journ. Proc. Linn. Soc. 1858, p. 156. Alcyone azurea, var. lessonii, Gray, P. Z. S. 1859, p. 155; id. P. Z. S. 1861, p. 433. |
