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Show 1869.] MR. R. B. SHARPE ON THE GENUS ALCYONE. 357 Hab. Australia, Cape-York peninsula (Mus. R. B. Sharpe) ; Victoria River and Port Essington, N . W . Australia (Gould, Elsey). Prince Bonaparte, following Mr. G. R. Gray, has united this species to the foregoing, in my opinion erroneously, and I can only believe that they have not seen a specimen. Mr. Gould and Mr. Cassin, both of whom have examined the type specimens (now in the Philadelphia Museum), have separated the two as distinct, and I entirely agree with their decision. I have in m y collection two beautiful specimens of A. pulchra, and I certainly consider it one of the most clearly characterized of all the species of Alcyone. The brilliant hue of the whole plumage and the extension of the blue from the sides of the breast down on to the flanks distinguish it from any of the allied species. Both of m y specimens have a slight blue edging to the feathers of the breast, one of them showing this peculiarity more than the other; in fact it almost forms a pectoral band in this specimen. 7. ALCYONE PUSILLA. Little Blue Kingfisher. Ceyx pusilla, Temm. Pl. Col. 595 (1836); Mull. Verh. Ethn. p. 22 (1839); Gray, P. Z. S. 1858, p. 17.2. Alcyone pusilla, Gould, Birds of Austr. ii. pl. 36 (1848); Reich. Handb. Alced. p. 7. t. 398. f. 3068, 3069 (1851); Cass. Cat. Hale. Phil. Mus. p. 5 (1852); Macgill. Voy. Rattl. ii. p. 356 (1852); Sclater, Journ. Proc. Linn. Soc. 1858, p. 172 ; Rosenb. Journ. f. Orn. 1864, p. 118; Gould, Handb. Birds of Austr. i. p. 142 (1865); Ramsay, P. Z. S. 1868, p. 383. Alcedo pusilla, Schl. Mus. Pays-Bas, Alced. p. 18 (1863); id. Vog. Ned. Ind. Alced. pp. 12, 48, pl. 3 (1864). Nu-rea-bin-mo, of the natives of the Coburg peninsula (Gould). A. torque pectorali nullo : abdomine albo. Hab. in Australia septentrionali, in Nova Guinea, et insulis Mo-luccensibus. Above rich ultramarine, having a greenish tinge in some lights on the head, cheeks, and wing-coverts; quills blackish, the inner web lighter at the base, the outer web distinctly washed with greenish blue, especially on the secondaries; tail blue above, black beneath ; a loral spot and a patch of feathers along the sides of the neck white, the latter slightly tinged with orange; entire under surface white, with a greenish gloss on the breast in some lights; shoulders, sides of the breast, and flanks rich ultramarine ; bill and feet black ; irides dark blackish brown. Total length 4*8 inches, of bill from front 1*15, from gape 1*4, wing 2*0, tail 0*85, tarsus 0*25, middle toe * 0*45, hind toe 0*2. Hab. Australia: N . Australia (Gould); Rockingham Bay (Ramsay); N e w Guinea (Miiller); Aru Islands (Wallace); Gilolo (Wallace). This little species, though everywhere rare, is widely distributed. M y description and measurements are from a Gilolo specimen lent to me by Mr. Wallace. PROC. ZOOL. Soc-1869, No. XXIV. |