Bill short, very straight, base trigonal, beyond attenuated to a very fine point; upper mandible above rounded, both entire. Nostrils basal, naked, partially covered by a membrane; aperture linear, near the margin of the bill. Feet short, strong, a little longer than the middle toe; anterior toes three, the outer connected, the inner cleft; hind toe strong. * * * * * SPECIFIC CHARACTER. _O. supra olivaceo-viridis, subtus flavescente-albus, maculis nigrescentibus; capite crista coccinea incumbente; capitis lateribus lineis transversis flavescente-albis._ Above olive-green, beneath yellowish-white, with blackish spots. Head with an incumbent crimson crest; sides of the head and neck with transverse yellowish-white lines. * * * * * An elegant and (to the ornithologist) a highly interesting bird, considered with much judgement by Professor Temminck as a new genus, having the perfect bill and habit of the Wryneck, but totally unlike that bird in the position of its toes, which in this are not placed in pairs. The Professor has slightly described it, in the new edition of his _Manuel_, without a _specific_, but under the _generic_ name of _Oxyruncus_, the spelling of which must be presumed as an error of the press: no mention, however, is made of the beautiful crimson colour which adorns the crest. Total length near seven inches. Bill eight-tenths in length from the gape; general colour of the bird olive-green, becoming nearly white on the under part, and on the transverse stripes on each side the neck, front and temples, where there are also obscure bands of black; crown with a concealed crest, which is vivid crimson at the base and blackish at the tips; inner margin of the covers, quills and tail blackish; inner covers yellowish; chin, neck and breast banded with blackish lines, which are broken into spots and stripes beyond. Inhabits Brazil, but is very rare. * * * * * Pl. 50 [Illustration] ALCEDO Asiatica. _Asiatic Kingsfisher._ * * * * * GENERIC CHARACTER.--See Pl. 26. * * * * * SPECIFIC CHARACTER. _A. capite nigro, fasciis transversis cyaneis, postice cristato; auribus cyaneis; mento, gula, strigaque laterali colli albescentibus; dorso nitide caeruleo; corpore subtus rufo._ Head black, transversely banded with mazarine blue, the hinder part crested; ears blueish; chin, throat, and lateral stripe on each side the neck whitish; back shining light-blue; body beneath rufous. OBS. This bird Dr. Horsfield tells me is his _Alcedo meninting_ described in the Linn. Transactions. * * * * *