_Molt._--Examination of specimens indicates that the time of molt
is irregular or that molting may occur at any time of the year.
However, there may be a peak in molting in July, August and
September; many of the adult birds taken then show evidence of
molting of wing and tail. This is immediately following the period
of greatest nesting activity.
_Food habits._--The Micronesian Kingfisher at Guam feeds on various
kinds of animal life; lizards and insects are the principal items.
Of three birds taken on February 14, the stomach of one contained a
blue-tailed skink; one contained parts of insects and one contained
parts of a gecko. I watched a kingfisher capture and swallow a
skink on January 14. The bird remained motionless on its perch
until the reptile approached within striking distance. Seale
(1901:45) writes that the bird has a bad reputation as a chicken
thief. He remarks, "I rather doubted his ability in this line until
one day I actually saw him attack a brood of small chicks quite
near me, and he would have undoubtedly secured one had not the
mother hen rushed to the rescue."
_Parasites._--Wharton (1946:174) obtained the chigger (Acarina),
_Trombicula_ sp., from the Guam Kingfisher.
_Remarks._--In 1820, Quoy and Gaimard (1824:35) obtained five specimens
of this kingfisher at Guam and called the bird "Martin-chasseur à
têterouse." Kittlitz recorded the bird in March, 1828. Marche obtained a
series of 57 skins at Guam in 1887 and 1888; these were sent to the
Paris Museum. Sharpe described the female as a separate species in 1892.
There is considerable variation in the coloration of adult birds, which
is mostly due to fading, as suggested by Hartert (1898:52). Some
individuals have the crown feathers much abraided as a result of rubbing
the crown against the edge of the nest holes as the birds enter and
leave them.
The kingfisher is fairly common at Guam. It is primarily a bird of the
forest, preferring particularly the marginal habitats between woodlands
and openings. I saw only a few birds in open country; only rarely were
birds seen sitting on the telephone lines along the roads. The writer
(1947b:124) found that of all the birds frequenting habitat along
roadways on Guam, the kingfisher comprised only 1.2 percent. Thus, it
can be said that it is not a bird of very conspicuous habits, although
its noisy "rattle" may be heard in the day and at night.
=Halcyon cinnamomina pelewensis= Wiglesworth
Micronesian Kingfisher
_Halcyon pelewensis_ Wiglesworth, Abhandl. und Ber. Zool. Mus.
Dresden, no. 6, 1890-1891 (1891), p. 15. (Type locality, Pelew
Islands.)
_Halcyon reichenbachii_ Hartlaub and Finsch, Proc. Zool. Soc.
London, 1868, pp. 4, 118 (Pelew); Sharpe, Cat. Birds British Mus.,
17, 1892, p. 261 (Pelew).
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