Species.
- a1. Back and wings deep ultramarine blue; lower back rich cobalt. javana (p. [303])
- a2. Back and wings bluish green; lower back greenish cobalt.
266. PELARGOPSIS JAVANA (Boddaert).
BORNEAN STORK-BILLED KINGFISHER.
- Alcedo javana Boddaert, Tabl. Pl. Enl. (1783), 47.
- Pelargopsis leucocephala Steere, List Bds. & Mams. Steere Exped. (1890), 9; Sharpe, Cat. Birds Brit. Mus. (1892), 17, 98; Hand-List (1900), 2, 48; McGregor and Worcester, Hand-List (1906), 51.
Mindoro (Steere Exp.); Palawan (Whitehead, Steere Exp.). Borneo.
“Adult male.—Head and back of neck deep ochraceous, the latter rather deeper in color; upper part of the back, scapulars, and lesser wing-coverts rich blue; the median and greater coverts and the outer aspect of the primaries rich ultramarine, inner secondaries entirely of this color; tail ultramarine above, black beneath; under surface of body deep rich ochraceous, a little lighter on throat and sides of face. ‘Bill and feet coral-red; iris chocolate.’ (Everett.) Length, 330; culmen, 76; wing, 147; tail, 84; tarsus, 11.” (Sharpe.)
“Included in this list chiefly on the authority of Dr. Sharpe, who identifies a bird collected by Dr. Steere as P. leucocephala (=javana). Mr. Whitehead speaks of ‘two specimens’ secured by himself, and refers to the fact that the bird was discovered by Dr. Steere in the Island. It is our opinion that the Mindoro bird is P. gouldi, and we doubt the correctness of Dr. Steere’s identification of the bird collected by the Steere Expedition in Palawan. It might well happen that an occasional specimen of P. javana should find its way into Palawan, but there is little doubt that P. gouldi is the common species there.” (Bourns and Worcester MS.)