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exclusively upon animal substances, small quadrupeds, birds, snakes, lizards, and insects of every kind being
equally acceptable.

Three species habit Australia.
57. Dacelo gigantea : : : : : , : : : : : : Vole ie elelts:

Inhabits the south-eastern portion of Australia, from South Australia to Moreton Bay.

58. Dacelo Leachii, Vig. § Horsf. . ; ; é : : c : : : : Wolk, Ul, IAL, 19,

Inhabits the north-eastern portion of Australia, and is common at Cape York.

59. Dacelo cervina, Gould : 5 : i ; : : : ‘ : : ; : No) epee 20)

Inhabits the north-western parts of Australia, particularly the Cobourg Peninsula.
In his ‘Journal of an Overland Expedition from Moreton Bay to Port Essington,’ Dr. Leichardt states that
when near the Gulf of Carpentaria, “ The laughing jackass (Dacelo Cervina, Gowld) of this part of the country is

of a different species from that of the eastern coast, is of a smaller size and speaks a different language ; but the

 

noise is by no means so ridiculous as that of Dacelo gigantea; he is heard before sunrise, and immediately after
sunset, like his representative of the eastern coast; the latter was observed as far as the upper Lynd, where the

new one made its appearance.’ —P. 326.
Genus Haucyon, Swains.

The members of this genus, as now restricted, are found in all the islands of the Indian Archipelago, Australia,
and New Zealand. The Australian species, which are four in number, have many habits in common with the
Dacelos, and like them dwell among other places on the open plains, far away from water, and consequently must

live for considerable periods without a supply of that element.

60. Halcyon sanctus, Vig. § Horsf. . : : : : : : : ‘ : : : Wool, JOG 1b Ml,
61. Halcyon pyrrhopygia, Gould. ; : ; ‘ : : Volt lik ml: 22)

Captain Sturt found this species at the Depot, and I have received specimens from the Swan River Settlement ;

consequently it has a very wide range, but is more an inhabitant of the interior than of the districts near the coast.
62. Halcyon sordidus, Gould . : s ; : : : : : : : ; : VO ele ele se
63. Halcyon MacLeayu, Jard. & Selb. : : : : : : : Wo, 10f, TU 4!

Independently of the Cobourg Peninsula, I have received specimens of this bird from Moreton Bay and other

parts of the east coast.
Genus ALcyone, Swans.

The Australian members of this genus are so intimately allied that I have only deemed it necessary to
figure two species, viz. Alcyone azurea and A. pusilla; the two species not figured are both nearly allied to
A. azurea, and may be considered its northern and southern prototypes, since the one to which I have given the
name of pulchra inhabits the north coast, and the other, which I have called Diemenensis, inhabits Van Diemen’s
Land. The A. azurea inhabits the intermediate or rather the south-eastern portions of the country, but no species
of the genus has yet been found in Western Australia. They all frequent the margins of rivers, and live on small
fish and insects, and have many habits in common with the members of the genus Alcedo, of which the Kingfisher
of Europe, A. Ispida, is the type. Although some species are found in New Guinea and the Indian Islands,

Australia is the country in which birds of this form are most abundant.

64. Alcyone azurea : d : : X 4 : ; ; : ‘ : : Woes ie ele 2p
65. Alecyone Diemenensis, Gould.

Alcyone Diemenensis, Gould in Proc. of Zool. Soc., Part XIV. p. 19.

All the upper surface deep blue, becoming more vivid on the rump and upper tail-coverts; wings black

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