HALCYONIDiE.— CERYLE AMERICANA. Ill 



It is usually from four to six feet in depth, and about four inches in diameter, 

 slightly narrowing as it recedes, but again widening at the termination, where it is 

 expanded into a snug little arched chamber, large enough for the whole family to 

 turn round in Avith ease. The bottom is covered with matted twigs, straw, and 

 feathers. The eggs are six in number, and of a beautifully pure crystal Avhiteness. 

 They are nearly luiiform in size and shape, the latter being \evy nearly spherical. 

 The average measurement of the eggs is 1 j-^g inches in length, and 1 Jg in breadth. 

 This is slightly larger than that given by Audubon, but corresponds with my own 

 observations. 



The excavation of the hole in which they nest, though a w^ork of much labor, is 

 not so difficult as might be supposed without examining the peculiar adaptation of 

 the bird to its accomplishment. Its wedge-shaped body, powerful and pointed beak, 

 and short muscular feet admirably suit it for burrowing, even in the hardest soil. 

 Its short powerful tarsus, the broad flat palm into which its toes are united, with 

 its strong, short, and sharp claws, combine to adapt its feet to form most efficient 

 co-workers with its beak in digging out the home to which, after it has once made 

 it, it perseveringly adheres in spite even of frequent molestations. The Kingfisher 

 is devoted to its offspring, and exhibits great solicitude if their safety is threatened. 

 I have known the female suffer herself to be repeatedly taken from her nest rather 

 than desert her young, and Mr. Audvibon speaks of their resorting to ingenious 

 stratagems to draw off intruders. 



CERYLE AJIERICANA. 



Alcedo americana, Gmelin, Syst. Nat. I, 1788, 451. 

 Alcedo viridis, Vieill. Nouv. Diet. XIX, 1818, 413. 

 Ceryle americana, Lawrence, Ann. Lye. Nat. Hist, of N. Y. V, 1851, 118. 



Cassin, Syn. N. A. Birds (Illust. Birds of Cal.), 1854, p. 255. 

 Vtjlg. — The Texan Green Kingfisher. 



The egg represented in the plate was found in the collection of Dr. Berlandier, 

 now in the possession of the Smithsonian Institution, designated as that of a Kmg- 

 fisher, but with no description accompanying it of the parent bird to which it be- 

 longed. Its size, hoAvever, sufficiently shows the species, if, as we presume, it was 

 correctly marked. This specimen resembles the eggs of the Belted Kingfisher 

 in every respect except size. Its color is a pure bright crystal white. The egg 

 measures an inch and a sixteenth in length by thirteen sixteenths of an inch in 

 breadth. 



Nothing is known, so far as I am aware, of the habits of this species. It is safe 



