KINGFISHER 403 



Fam. ALCEDINID^. 



BELTED KINGFISHER. Ceryle alcyon (Linnffius). 

 Length, 12 in.; bill, 2 in.; wing, 6*4 in.; tarsus, 

 0-3 in. 



Hah. North America generally ; wintering throughout 

 Central America and the Antilles. 



One, Annsbrook, co. Meath, Oct. 26, 1845 : Thompson, 

 Ann. Nat. Hist, 1845, and " Nat. Hist., Ireland 

 (Birds)," vol. i. p. 373. In the Museum of Trinity 

 College, Dublin. 



One, Luggelaw, co. Wicklow, Nov. 1845 : Thomj)son, 

 op. cit., Ussher, "Birds of Ireland," p. 400. In the 

 Warren Collection in Science and Art Museum, 

 Dublin. 



Obs. Although the American Belted Kingfisher 

 is to a certain extent migratory in its habits, going 

 southward for the winter, and returning northward 

 in spring, it seems highly improbable that this species 

 could have been met with in the localities above 

 named, except through the agency of man, and no 

 other instance of its appearance in Europe has 

 been reported. I visited Luggelaw from curiosity 

 when in Ireland, and a more uncongenial place 

 for a Kingfisher of any kind I never saw. It 

 is not surprising, therefore, to find that Mr. Ussher, 

 in his recently published volume on the Birds of 

 Ireland, has relegated the Belted Kingfisher to an 

 ** Appendix," and placed it amongst "species whose 

 claims to be included in the list of Irish birds are at 

 present considered to be insufficient." 



