Cerylidae - 鱼狗科 - ヤマセミ科

1. General names

The Cerylidae, Alcedinidae, and Halcyonidae are traditionally seen as similar types of bird, i.e., kingfishers. Attempts to enforce names according to the scientific classification can be rather artificial.

Chinese: The Chinese name for the cerylid kingfishers is 鱼狗 yú-gǒu ('fish dog').
Other, older, names include 鴗 lì or 鴗鸟 lì-niǎo 'li bird' and 天狗 tiān-gǒu 'heaven dog'.

Japanese: The cerylid kingfishers are known as ヤマセミ yama-semi 'mountain kingfisher' (cf kawa-semi 'river kingfisher', the common name of Alcedo atthis). In Chinese characters, the name ヤマセミ yama-semi is written either:

山 yama 'mountain'	+	翡翠 semi	The characters 翡翠 are a Chinese word for the kingfishers, fěi-cuì, now strictly applied by Chinese naturalists to the halcyon kingfishers. Note: 翡翠 is also used in Japanese to write (1) kawa-semi, (2) hisui (see alcedinid kingfishers), and (3) shōbin (see halcyon kingfishers).
山 yama 'mountain'	+	魚狗 semi	鱼狗 yú-gǒu is a Chinese word for certain types of kingfisher, in particular the cerylid kingfishers. Note: 魚狗 'fish dog' is sometimes also used in Japanese to write kawa-semi (see alcedinid kingfishers).

Note that the characters 山翡翠 can also be read yama shōbin, which is the name of Halcyon pileata.

Vietnamese: The Vietnamese name for the cerylid kingfishers is Bói cá. The word cá means 'fish'. Another name in northern dialects is Chim đồng cốt or 'witchcraft bird', although it is not clear whether this refers to the cerylid kingfishers or to the alcenid or halcyon kingfishers.

2. Species names

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SCIENTIFIC & ENGLISH		CHINESE			JAPANESE		VIETNAMESE
Latin	English	Chinese (Mainland)	Chinese (Taiwan)	Other Ch	Japanese	Other J	Vietnamese	Other V
Megaceryle lugubris/ Ceryle lugubris	Crested kingfisher Greater pied kingfisher Crested pied kingfisher (Cheng) Pied kingfisher	冠鱼狗 guàn yú-gǒu 'crested fish dog' (incl. Viney)		水葱花 shuǐ cōng-huā 'water shallot-flower' 大啄鱼 dà zhuó-yú 'large catch-fish' 斑鴗 bān lì 'spotted/striped li' 花鱼狗 huā yú-gǒu 'flowery fish dog' 花钓鱼郎 huā diào-yú-láng 'flowery fisherman'	ヤマセミ (山翡翠 or 山魚狗) yama-semi 'mountain kingfisher'	カノコショウビン (鹿の子翡翠) kanoko-shōbin 'deer-(striped) kingfisher'	Bói cá lớn 'large boi ca'
Ceryle rudis	Pied kingfisher Lesser pied kingfisher (Cheng)	斑鱼狗 bān yú-gǒu 'striped/spotted fish dog' (incl. Viney)		小啄鱼 xiǎo zhuó-yú 'small catch-fish' 小花鱼狗 xiǎo huā yú-gǒu 'small flowery fish dog' 花斑钓鱼郎 huā bān diào-yú-láng 'flowery striped fisherman'	ヒメヤマセミ (姫山翡翠 or 姫山魚狗) hime yama-semi 'princess mountain kingfisher'		Bói cá nhỏ 'small boi ca'

3. Notes

The distribution of Cerylidae in East Asia can be seen at Tzung-Su Ding's Distribution of CORACIIFORMES in East Asia.