A Manual of Philippine Birds

by Richard C. McGregor

“Adult male.—Back and upper tail-coverts bright cobalt-blue, slightly lighter than in C. cyanipectus; crown and nape blue-black, thickly spotted with bright cobalt, the spots being much wider and slightly lighter than in C. cyanipectus; spots much larger on hind neck, causing it to appear nearly uniform cobalt; scapulars black, heavily washed with dark verditer-blue; wing-coverts washed with verditer-blue, each feather with a bright spot or stripe of cobalt-blue; wing black, the outer webs of secondaries heavily washed with light verditer-blue; tail black, the central pair of feathers washed with verditer-blue on both webs, the others on outer webs only; loral spot reddish buff; a spot of same color on sides of neck; chin and throat white, washed with buff; fore neck, breast, and abdomen uniform buff; flanks, sides of breast, and a complete band across the breast dark verditer-blue; a half band of same color behind this; under tail-coverts buff, the larger ones tipped with verditer-blue; under wing-coverts like the breast, with a spot of verditer-blue at end; basal portion of inner webs of primaries and secondaries washed with pale buff; bill black. Average measurements from ten males: Culmen, 36; tarsus, 9; wing, 56; tail, 22. Length of a single male measured in the flesh, 165.

“Female like male, but has only a half band of verditer-blue across the breast, this being more imperfect than in C. cyanipectus. Average measurements from three females: Culmen, 37; tarsus, 8; wing, 59; tail, 24. Length of single female measured in the flesh, 143.

“A well-marked species easily distinguished from C. cyanipectus, its nearest ally, by the heavy markings on crown and nape, by its black bill and by the entirely different color of its under surface. Like the former species, it is strictly confined to the banks of fresh-water streams and it is usually found in the woods.” (Bourns and Worcester.)

Genus CEYX Lacépède, 1799.

Bill intermediate in form between Alcedo and Halcyon, less compressed than in the former, not grooved; culmen straight and slightly flattened; only three toes, the inner or second toe wanting; tail very short and rounded; plumage very bright, red often predominating. (Blanford.)

Species.

• a¹. Lower parts lilac and rufous.
  • b¹. Smaller; wing and tail shorter.
    • c¹. A bright blue spot behind ear-coverts. melanura (p. [312])
    • c². No bright blue spot behind ear-coverts. mindanensis (p. [312])
  • b². Larger; wing and tail longer. samarensis (p. [313])
• a². Lower parts yellow, or yellow washed with rufous.
  • b¹. Above rufous, or black and rufous, washed with more or less lilac. euerythra (p. [314])
  • b². Above silvery cobalt to deep ultramarine-blue but with no rufous. bournsi (p. [316]); goodfellowi (p. [318])

275. CEYX MELANURA Kaup.

KAUP’S KINGFISHER.

• Ceyx melanura Kaup, Fauna Eisv. (1848), 15; Sharpe, Cat. Birds Brit. Mus. (1892), 17, 180 (part); Hand-List (1900), 2, 53; Bourns and Worcester, Minnesota Acad. Nat. Sci. Occ. Papers (1894), 1, 46; McGregor and Worcester, Hand-List (1906), 53.