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.)