Volume 19, Plate XI / Ornithology (Birds)

Great African Kingfisher

Ispida gigantea

A kingfisher equal in size to any of its genus, dark cinereous above and thickly covered with white spots that are densest on the wing and nearly absent on the back. Each tail-feather bears a row of seven alternating spots, the cheeks are white bordered with black, the flank spots run into transverse bands, a white spot sits before the eye, and the hind head is crested, the whole about fourteen and a half inches.