ALCEDINID^ -ALCEDININ^: KINGFISHERS. 



469 



are iucluded within their number. . . . ' Their characteristic liabit is to sit motionless watching 

 for their prey, to dart after it and seize it on the wing, and to return to their original position 

 to swallow it.' . . . Tha Alcedinid<E 

 nest in holes and lay white eggs. It 

 is, however, to be remarked that, in 

 accordance with a moditication of the 

 habits of tlie various genera, a cor- 

 responding modification has taken 

 place in the mode of nidification, the 

 piscivorous section of the family nest 

 iug for the most part in holes in the 

 banks tif streams, while the insectiv 

 orous section of the family generally 

 nest in the holes of trees, not nec- 

 essarily in the vicinity of water." 

 (Sharpe.) 



The nearest allies of the King- 

 fishers are the Hornbills (Bucero 

 tidce) and Hoopoes (Upupidce) of 

 tlie Old World, and the Toucans 

 (lihamjjhastidce) and Barbets (Cap 

 itonidaf) of the New. All these 

 families, like the Woodpeckers 

 (PicidcB), agree in being anomalo- 

 gonatous, with two carotids, a 

 tufted oil-gland, and no coeca. The 

 formula of the leg-muscles is the 

 same as in Trogonidce, the acces- 

 sory fciMoro-caudal, accessory semitendinosus and ambiens all being absent. (Garrod.) One 

 would gain an imperfect or en-oneous idea of the family to judge of it by the American fragment, 

 of one genus and 6 or 8 species. According to the author of the splendid monograph above cited, 

 there are in all 125 species, belonging to 19 genera ; the latter appear to be very judiciously 

 handled, but a moderate reduction of the former will be recjuired. They are very unequally 

 distributed. Ceryle alone is nearly cosmopolitan, absent only from the Australian region; the 

 Northern portion of the Old World has only 2 peculiar species ; 3 genera and 24 species are 

 characteristic of the Ethiopian region ; one genus and 25 species arc confined to the Indian ,: 

 while no less than 10 genera and 59 species are peculiar to the Australian. Mr. Sharpe recog- 

 nizes two subfamilies ; in the insectivorous DacelonincE (with 14 genera and 84 species), the 

 bill is more or less depressed, with smooth, rounded, or sulcate culmen. In the 



Fig. 320. — A typical Kingfisher, the European Alcedu ispida. 

 (Prom Dixon.) 



145. 



35. Subfamily ALCEDININ/E, Piscivorous Kingfishers, 



the bill is compressed with carinate culmen. The American species all belong here. It is the 

 more particularly piscivorous section ; the Dacelonince feed for the most part upon insects, rep- 

 tiles and land mnllusks. Cenjle is the only American genus, with 2 North American species. 

 They are thoroughly aquatic and piscivorous, seeking their prey by plunging into the water 

 frojn on wing ; and nest in holes in banks, laying numerous white eggs. 



CE'RYLE. (Gr. (cijpuXoy. kendos, a kingfisher.) Belted Kingfishers. Head with an 

 occipital crest. Bill longer than head, straight, stout, acute. Wings long and pointed. Tail 

 rather long and broad (in comparison with some genera), much shorter than vnug. Tarsi 

 short ; legs naked above the tibio-tarsal joint. Plumage belted below. 



