488 KINGFISHER 



' Geyx, the second digit is aborted, and the birds have but three toes. 

 In most forms the bill does not differ much from that of the 

 common Alcedo ispida, but in Syma its edges are serrated, while in 

 Carcineutes, Dacelo, and Melidora the maxilla is prolonged, becoming 

 in the last a very pronounced hook. Generally the wings are short 

 and rounded, and the tail is in many forms inconspicuous ; but iii 

 Tanysiptera, one of the most beautiful groups, the middle pair of 

 feathers is greatly elongated and spatulate, while this genus 

 possesses only ten rectrices, all the rest having twelve. Sundevall 

 relies on a character not noticed by Dr. Sharpe, and makes its 

 principal divisions depend on the size of the scapulars, which in 

 one form a mantle, and in the other are so small as not to cover 

 the back. The Alcedinidse. are a cosmopolitan Family, but only one 

 genus, Ceryle, is found in America, and that extends as Avell over a 

 great part of the Old World, though not into the Australian Region, 

 which affords by far the greater number both of genera and species, 

 having no fewer than 10 of the former and 59 of the latter peculiar 

 to it.i 



In habits Kingfishers display considerable diversity, though all, 

 it would seem, have it in common to sit at times motionless on the 

 watch for their prey, and on its appearance to dart upon it, seize it 

 as they fly or dive, and return to a perch where it may be con- 

 veniently swallowed. But some species, and especially that which 

 is the type of the Family, are not always content to await at rest 

 their victim's showing itself. They Avill hover like a Hawk over 

 the waters that conceal it, and, in the manner already described, 

 precipitate themselves upon it. This is particularly the way with 

 those that are fishers in fact as well as in name ; but no incon- 

 siderable number live almost entirely in forests, feeding on insects, 

 while reptiles furnish the chief sustenance of others. The last is 

 characteristic of at least one Australian form, which manages to 

 thrive in the driest districts of that country, where not a drop of 

 water is to be found for miles, and the air is at times heated to a 

 degree that is insupportable by most animals. The limits of this 

 article forbid an entrance upon details of much interest, but the 

 Belted Kingfisher of North America, Ceryle alcymi, is too character- 

 istic a bird of that country to be passed in silence, though its habits 

 greatly resemble those of the European species before described ; 

 and the so-called "Laughing Jackass" of New South Wales and 

 South Australia, Dacelo gigas — with its kindred forms, D. leachi, D. 

 cervina, and B. occidentalis, from other parts of the country — like- 

 wise requires special notice. Attention must also be called to the 

 speculations of Dr. Sharpe {op. cit. pp. xliv.-xlvii.) on the genetic 

 affinity of the various forms of Alcedinidx, and it is to be regretted 

 that hitherto no light has been shed by palaeontologists on this 

 ^ Of. Wallace, Geogr. Distr. Animals, ii. p. 315. 



