ALCEDINID^ — THE KINGFISHERS — CERYLE. 339 



composed of a few twigs, grass, and feathers. According to Nuttall, both 

 parents sit on them, and they are hatched in sixteen days. 



This bird is not migratory iu California, unless it is from the highest 

 mountain streams to the vaUeys and coast. Pacific Coast specimens are 

 larger than Eastern. 



Ceryle Americana, Gmelin. 



THE TEXAS KINGFISHEK. 



Alcedo Americana, Gmelin, Syst. Nat. I. 1788,451. — Ceryle Americana, BoiE, Isis, 1828, 

 316. — Lawrence, Annals N. Y. Lyceum, V. 1831, 118. (First introduction into the 

 fauna of the United States.) — Cassin, lUust. I. 1855, 255. — Brewer, N. Am. Ool. I. 

 1857, 3 ; jjl. iv. f. 53 (egg). — Baird, Birds N. Araer. 1858, 159 ; pi. 45. In. Rep. Mcx. 

 Bound. IL 7; pi. vii. — Coues, Pr. Phil. Ac. 1866, 59. — Chlorocerijte Americana 

 Reiciienb. Handb. Sp. Orn. I. ii. 1851, 27; pi. 413, f. 3112-3115. 



Alcedo viridis, Vieillot, Nouv. Diet. XIX. 1818, 413 (Cassin). 



Alcedo Cabanisii, Tschudi, Fauna Per. 253. 



Sp. Char. Head slightly crested. Upper parts, with a pectoral and abdominal band 

 of blotches, glossy green, as also a line on each side the throat. Under parts generally, 



Natural size. 



a collar on the back of the neck, and a double series of spots on the quills, white ; a chest- 

 nut band across the breast in some skins. Length, about 8.00 ; wing, 3.25. 

 Hub. Rio Grande and the Lower Colorado, southward. 



This diminutive species, scarcely one sixth the weight of the belted 

 kingfisher, is not at all rare along the Eio Grande, but has been seen more 

 seldom in Southern Arizona. Dr. Coues observed it at several points on 

 the Colorado Eiver between Forts IMojave and Yuma. 



