ASIATIC KINGFISHER.
- Alcedo bengalensis Gmelin, Syst. Nat. (1788), 1, 450; McGregor and Worcester, Hand-List (1906), 52.
- Alcedo ispida Sharpe, Cat. Birds Brit. Mus. (1892), 17, 141 (part); Hand-List (1900), 2, 50 (part); Blanford, Fauna Brit. Ind. Bds. (1895), 3, 122, fig. 35 (head); Oates and Reid, Cat. Birds’ Eggs (1903), 3, 33 (part).
Su-sul′-bot, Manila; ma-min-dí-ta, Calayan; sa-cal′, Lubang.
Balabac (Steere Exp., Everett); Basilan (Steere Exp., Bourns & Worcester); Bantayan (McGregor); Batan (McGregor); Bohol (Everett, McGregor), Cagayancillo (McGregor); Cagayan Sulu (McGregor); Calamianes (Bourns & Worcester, McGregor); Calayan (McGregor); Catanduanes (Whitehead); Cebu (Everett, Bourns & Worcester, McGregor); Cuyo (McGregor); Guimaras (Steere Exp., Bourns & Worcester); Leyte (Everett); Lubang (McGregor); Luzon (Cuming, Meyer, Everett, Bourns & Worcester, Whitehead, McGregor); Masbate (Steere Exp., Bourns & Worcester); Mindanao (Steere, Everett, Steere Exp., Celestino, Goodfellow); Mindoro (Schmacker, Bourns & Worcester, McGregor, Porter); Negros (Steere, Steere Exp., Bourns & Worcester, Keay); Palawan (Lempriere, Platen, Whitehead, Steere Exp., Bourns & Worcester, White); Panay (Bourns & Worcester); Romblon (Bourns & Worcester); Samar (Steere Exp., Bourns & Worcester); Sibuyan (Bourns & Worcester); Siquijor (Bourns & Worcester, Celestino); Sulu (Guillemard, Bourns & Worcester); Tablas (Bourns & Worcester); Tawi Tawi (Bourns & Worcester); Verde (McGregor). Malay and Indian Peninsulas, Burmese provinces, Moluccas and Greater Sunda Islands, China, Hainan.
Adult male.—Upper parts, including wings, dark greenish blue; back, rump, and tail-coverts light cobalt-blue; feathers of head banded with cobalt; median wing-coverts tipped with cobalt; lores and a band to ear-coverts deep ferruginous, followed by a white patch on side of neck; a wide band from lower mandible to below white patch, greenish blue, spotted with cobalt; lower parts deep ferruginous or orange-rufous but chin and throat buffy white; under wing-coverts and axillars similar to breast but slightly paler. Bill black, dusky red along base; feet bright red; nails dark brown; iris dark brown. A male from Mindoro measures: Length, 168; wing, 71; tail, 32; culmen from base, 39; tarsus, 9.
Adult female.—Similar to the male. A specimen from Mindoro measures: Length, 170; wing, 75; tail, 34; culmen from base, 40; tarsus, 9.
Young.—Similar to the adult but duller; lower parts with little or no ferruginous; throat and chin white; breast and abdomen ashy or dusky brown.
“Probably occurs abundantly on every island of the group. Found along the seashore, in mangrove swamps, and along banks of fresh-water streams in the open. Much less commonly met with along streams in the forest.” (Bourns and Worcester MS.)