HALCYON QUADRICOLOR.

z
Four-coloured King'fisher.
Cyanaleyon quadricolor, Oustalet, Le Naturaliste, 1880 p. 323

Tene eee : : :
HIS beautifnl species was discovered by Mr Benitn’c “Vs : :

| i by a Br uyjn’s hunters on the west coast of New Guinea, and
appears to be a very distinct bird. Count Salvadori has, indeed, sugge
of Halcyon nigrocyanea; but this I do not think likely to be the cas
specimen in the Paris Museum, and assures me that the

sted to me that it may be the young
e. Mr. Sharpe examined the type
bird is adult, and quite distinct from the last-named
species. Both Professor Schlegel, in his Revue of the Kingfishers in the Leyden Museum, and Count
Salvadori, in his ‘Ornitologia della Papuasia,’ record specimens of 7. nigrocyanea, which they consider to
be immature, as being rufous or rufous-brown underneath ; but I can scarcely think that there cen be much
similarity between these young birds and the specimen figured in my Plate.

Dr. Oustalet describes the present bird as follows :—

‘Some months ago I had occasion to draw attention to the presence of a new species of Talegallus
(Zalegallus or rather Apypodius bruyjnii) among a collection of birds killed by Mr. Bruijn’s hunters on
the west coast of New Guinea and in the neighbouring islands. In this same collection, which was
acquired by the Paris Museum, was a beautiful Kingfisher of moderate size belonging to the small group
which is known by the name of Cyanalcyon, and much recalling by its proportions, and by the coloration
of the upper part of the body, of its beak, its feet, throat, and breast, the species coming from the north-
west coast of New Guinea, which was described by Mr. Wallace in 1862 under the name of Halcyon
mgrocyanea (Proc. Zool. Soc. 1862, p. 165, pl. xix.). The individual before me has, like the bird figured
by Mr. Wallace, the bill black, with a little white in the middle of the lower mandible near its base ; the
feet black ; the upper part of the head dark blue, passing into ultramarine on the nape and towards the
eyebrows, and contrasting strongly with the black colour which occupies the middle of the back and the
two large black spots which cover the cheeks, the feathers below the eye, and the sides of the throat. The
wings are of a dark blue, with the scapular feathers of a bright blue; the under wing-coverts black, crossed
by a white band; the tail is blue above, black below; the upper tail-coverts of a clear and intense cobalt-
blue; the throat pure white, bordered below by a broad blue band. But the abdominal region De
an entirely different coloration: in fact, in the female which was figured in the ‘ Proceedings,’ the belly is
of a pure white, with black flanks; here, on the contrary, the belly is of a oo Cee eee cinnamon-
rufous, with some black and blue feathers on the sides, and this rufous colour is separated from the blue

band by a somewhat narrow but well-defined line of white. We may not attribute this difference in colour

fh : i ‘uijn’s indications, 1 ic . ace confidence, the
to a difference in sex, because, according to Mr. Bruijn’s indications, in which one can place ; |
indivi ; ; A ike Mr. Wallace’s type Je know, moreover, as a natura
individual acquired by the Museum is a female like Mr. Wallace's type. We know, ie : ‘ :
; as lly azure- short, although I find in Schlegel’s
fact that the male of Halcyon nigrocyanea has the belly azure-blue. In short, a aay eS 5
: / ce des Pays-Bas’ vision, 1874, p. this note—‘ A young
‘Catalogue des Martins Pécheurs du Musée des Pays-Bas’ (Revision, 157 a a i
1 7 : ] senbere, is remarkable for having the blue o
male killed on the 7th May 1870, at Andai, by Von Rosenberg, is remar = 7 _ ith f
, . “tainly ider individual before me as
the under surface replaced by rufous brown,’ I certainly cannot consider a a wee
. | . ence ird, wi ‘olours pure and brilliant, <
being youne. It has, in fact, the dress of a perfectly adult bird, with the c P ee a
. ; : ‘afous bars which are the sign of immaturity. I
does not show any sign of spots, or of the grey or rufous bi a .
oo . species, to be called Cyanalcyon quadricolor, to draw
propose, therefore, to make it the type of a new species, to s a ol oe
: é Ae ‘ous, and black) which are spread over its plumage.
attention to the four colours (blue, white, rufous, and bie ; j :
a M J. G. Keulemans painted me a picture of the type specimen in the
During a recent visit to Paris, Mr. J. G. WKeulemé ‘ : a
8 : ; Mr. Hf The principal figure
Paris Museum, which has been reproduced by Mr.
is life-size. [R. B. S.J

ss a . PL
art in the accompanying Plate.