The Genus Tanysiptera, To Which This Bird
Belongs, Is Remarkable For The Enormously Lengthened Tail, Which
In All Other Kingfishers Is Small And Short.
Linnaeus named the
species known to him "the goddess kingfisher" (Alcedo dea), from
its extreme grace and beauty, the plumage being brilliant blue
and white, with the bill red, like coral.
Several species of
these interesting birds are now known, all confined within the
very limited area which comprises the Moluccas, New Guinea, and
the extreme North of Australia. They resemble each other so
closely that several of them can only be distinguished by careful
comparison. One of the rarest, however, which inhabits New
Guinea, is very distinct from the rest, being bright red beneath
instead of white. That which I now obtained was a new one, and
has been named Tanysiptera hydrocharis, but in general form and
coloration it is exactly similar to the larger species found in
Amboyna, and figured at page 468 of my first volume.
New and interesting birds were continually brought in, either by
my own boys or by the natives, and at the end of a week Ali
arrived triumphant one afternoon with a fine specimen of the
Great Bird of Paradise. The ornamental plumes had not yet
attained their full growth, but the richness of their glossy
orange colouring, and the exquisite delicacy of the loosely
waving feathers, were unsurpassable. At the same time a great
black cockatoo was brought in, as well as a fine fruit-pigeon and
several small birds, so that we were all kept hard at work
skinning till sunset.
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