by William Swainson

“ Referring to the observations we have already made on Kingsfishers generally, it will be only necessary to observe, that the species now formed into the genus Halcyon appear entirely excluded from the American continent: their bills are much stronger, thicker, and more rounded than the genuine Kingsfishers, and the under mandible beneath invariably carinated and curving upwards. ”

“ Bill two inches three lines from the gape, and one inch three quarters from the nostrils; upper mandible and margin and lip of the lower, black, the rest yellowish-white. The general plumage above is pale and changeable greenish-blue, the green predominating on the scapulars, head and tail; the upper part of the neck is crossed by a white collar, separated from the green of the head by a narrow margin of black, which passes on the ear-feathers round the nape; a narrow whitish line runs from the nostrils to the eyebrows, and another very short one is beneath the eye ”

“ Quills black edged with blue, the second, third and fourth equal and longest. Wings four inches and a quarter. Tail even, near three inches long, above blue-green, beneath black. Feet dusky; middle and outer claws much longer than the leg. ”