WESTERN BIRDS Kingfishers 



heard before a storm that they are called Rain Crows 

 and, by many, thought to predict a storm. Other notes 

 given coo coo coo cuck coo, a gluttural qua quah gwait, 

 tut tut tut, cl-uck-cl-uck, are not easily confused with 

 notes of other species. 



While these birds sometimes drop their eggs in other 

 birds' nests, they are devoted parents and the parasitic 

 tendency is exceptional, rather than otherwise. 



The nest is a crude affair placed usually low in tree or 

 brushy thicket, made of a platform of zig-zag twigs 

 overlaid with green leaves, grasses, withered blossoms or 

 weeds, making an insecure home for the nestlings. More 

 than one brood is raised. 



The female does all the brooding, but the male guards 

 and drives away intruders, keeping up his monotonous 

 cow-cow-cow, which is undoubtedly appreciated more by 

 his mate than his human listeners. 



SUBORDER ALCYONES: KING- 

 FISHERS. 



FAMILY— ALCEDINIDiE: KINGFISHERS. 



Belted Kingfisher: Ceryle alcyon. 



The Kingfisher is another bird to delight the bird 

 student because of his unusualness and his wide distribu- 

 tion, the one species being found both east and west. 

 It breeds from Alaska to Quebec and Newfoundland 

 south to the southern border of the United States, winter- 

 ing from British Columbia and States as far north as 

 Nebraska and Illinois, south, being found irregularly as 

 far north as Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and 

 Ontario. 



The bird has a long crest, a stout straight bill that is 

 longer than its head, and tail broad but much shorter 

 than wings. It is from eleven to fourteen and one-half 



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