The Malay archipelago : the land of the orang-utan ... - Wallace Online

XX.] AMBOYNA. 229(which have usuallyshort tails) by havingthe two middle tailfeathersimmenselylengthened and verynarrowly welibed, butterminated by a siDoon-shai^edenlargement, as in the motmotsand some of the humming-birds.They belong tothat division of tlie familytermed kinghunters, livingchiefly on insects and smallland-molluscs, which theydart down upon and pick ujdfrom the ground, just as akingfisher picks a fish out ofthe water. They are confinedto a very limited area, comprisingthe Moluccas, NewGuinea, and Northern Australia.About ten species ofthese birds are now known,all much resembling eachother, but yet sufliciently distinguishablein every locality.The Amboynese species, ofwhich a very accurate representationis here given, is oneof the largest and handsomest.It is full seventeen incheslong to the tips of the tailfeathers; the bill is coral red,the under-surface pure white,the back and wings deeppurple, while the shoulders,head and nape, and somespots on the upper part ofthe back and wings, are pureazure blue. The tail is white,with the feathers narrowlyblue-edged, but the narrowpart of the long featliers isrich blue. This was an entirelynew species, and hasbeen well named after anocean goddess, by Mr. G. R.Gray.On Christmas eve I retui'nedto Amboyna, where IRACQUET-TAILED KINGFISHER.