The male has the feathers of the head buffy white, with a central stripe of dark brown, the latter colour becoming most conspicuous on the occiput; throat white; cheeks, ear-coverts, back of the neck, chest and all the under surface sienna-yellow, crossed on the flanks with very minute irregular zigzag bands of brown; primaries black at the tip, white at the base; the base of their external webs, the secondaries and spurious wing rich china blue; greater and lesser wing-coverts, lower part of the back and upper tail-coverts shining light blue; tail and the longest of the upper tail-coverts rich deep blue, the former broadly tipped with white; irides greenish white; upper mandible blackish brown, the cutting edges greenish white; lower mandible greenish white, the base dark brown on the sides, and blue on the under surface; tarsi and feet emerald green; claws black. The female has the feathers of the head, cheeks, and ear-coverts buffy white, with a central stripe of dark brown; throat white; back of the neck, chest and all the under surface sienna-yellow; the chest, flanks and abdomen crossed by fine zigzag lines of brown; upper part of the back and scapularies umber-brown; primaries blackish brown at the tip and white at the base; the basal portion of their external webs, the secondaries spurious and the wing rich china blue; greater and lesser wing-coverts and upper tail-coverts light shining blue; tail and the longest of the upper coverts rich chestnut-brown, which passes into buff at the tip, the whole transversely marked with eight or nine bands of rich blue black. The figures are those of the two sexes of the natural size. [Illustration: HALCYON SANCTUS: _Vig. & Horsf._ _J. & E. Gould del_ _C. Hullmandel Imp._ ] HALCYON SANCTUS, _Vig. and Horsf._ Sacred Halcyon. _Sacred Kingsfisher_, Phill. Bot. Bay, pl. in p. 156.—White’s Voy., pl. in p. 193. _Halcyon Sanctus_, Vig. and Horsf. in Linn. Trans., vol. xv. p. 206.—Gould, Syn. of Birds of Aust., Part III. _Halcyon sacra_, Jard. and Selb. Ill. Orn., vol. ii. pls. 96 and 97. _Dacelo chlorocephala_, var. β. Less. Traité Orn., p. 246. _Kingsfisher_ of the Colonists. _Kün-yeë-nüh_ of the Aborigines, Western Australia. On reference to the synonyms given above, it will be seen that a difference of opinion is entertained from the authors of the “Illustrations in Ornithology” respecting this species being identical with the _Halcyon collaris_ of Mr. Swainson, a bird which I have not yet seen from Australia, although it may possibly be found in the northern part of that continent, since it is common in Java; and I find that Mr. Swainson, in his recently published “Classification of Birds,” has arranged them as distinct.