_J. Gould and H. C. Richter del et lith._ _C. Hullmandel Imp._
]
HALCYON MACLEAYII, _Jard. & Selb._
MacLeay’s Halcyon.
_Halcyon MacLeayii_, Jard. and Selb. Ill. Orn., vol. iii. pl. 101.
_Halcyon incinctus_, Gould in Proc. of Zool. Soc., Part V. p. 142,
female.
_Bush Kingfisher_, Residents at Port Essington.
There certainly has not yet been discovered a more beautiful Halcyon in
any part of the world than the one figured in the accompanying Plate,
which has been dedicated to Mr. Alexander MacLeay by the authors of the
“Illustrations of Ornithology” as a tribute of respect, in the propriety
of which I entirely concur.
The extreme brilliancy of the plumage of this bird would seem to
indicate that it is an inhabitant of a hotter climate than that of New
South Wales, and the correctness of this inference is borne out by the
fact that the _Halcyon MacLeayii_ has only yet been found on the extreme
northern portion of the continent; it is tolerably abundant at Port
Essington, and it is also spread over every part of the Cobourg
Peninsula suited to its peculiar habits; like the other members of the
genus to which it belongs, it is rarely if ever seen near water, and
evinces so decided a preference for the open forests of the interior of
the country that it has obtained the name of “Bush Kingfisher” from the
residents at Port Essington; it is generally dispersed about in pairs,
and feeds on small reptiles, insects and their larvæ; its general note
is a loud _pee-pee_ uttered with considerable rapidity. It incubates in
November and December, sometimes forming its nest in the hollow trunks
of trees, and at others excavating a hole for itself in the nest of the
tree-ants, which presents so prominent and singular a feature in the
scenery of the country: the nest of the _H. Macleayii_ is easily
discovered, for on the approach of an intruder the birds immediately
commence flying about in a very wild manner, uttering at the same time a
loud piercing cry of alarm; the eggs are three or four in number, of a
pearly white and nearly round in form, being eleven lines long by ten
broad.
So much difference exists in the plumage of the sexes that Mr. Gilbert
states he was for some time induced to regard them as specifically
distinct; an error into which I had myself previously fallen when
describing the female as a new species in the “Proceedings of the
Zoological Society” as quoted above; “but upon closer observation,” adds
Mr. Gilbert, “I soon satisfied myself that the difference of plumage was
merely sexual, the dissection of a large number of specimens fully
proving that those with a ring round the neck are males and those
without it females.”
The male has a line under the eye and ear-coverts deep glossy black;
head, occiput, wings and tail rich deep prussian blue; primaries and
secondaries white at the base, forming a conspicuous spot when the wings
are spread; for the remainder of their length these feathers are black,
margined externally with light prussian blue; immediately before the eye
an oval spot of white; collar surrounding the back of the neck and all
the under surface white, tinged with buff on the lower part of the
flanks; back and upper tail-coverts verditer blue; scapularies verditer
green, both these colours bounded near the white collar with prussian
blue; under surface of the wing white, the tips of the coverts black;
under surface of the tail black; bill black, the basal portion of the
under mandible yellowish white; tarsi black; inner side of the feet and
back of the tarsi ash-grey; irides very dark brown.
The general colours of the female are similar to those of the male, but
she differs from her mate in being entirely destitute of the white
collar at the back of the neck, which part is deep prussian blue, thus
uniting the blue of the occiput and of the back; in the tints being much
less brilliant in the back, being of a dull brownish verditer green, and
in the upper tail-coverts pale verditer green instead of blue; upper
mandible black; lower mandible half-way from the tip and along the whole
of the cutting edges black, the remainder being fleshy white tinged with
blue where it joins the black; legs and feet greenish grey.
The young male resembles the female in colour, but is still less
brilliant; has the back of a purer green; the under surface tinged with
buff; the spot on the lores deep buff; and the collar at the back of a
deep buff, interrupted by some of the feathers of the occiput.
The figures are those of a male and a female of the natural size.
[Illustration: