188 ALCEDINID, KINGFISHERS.—GEN. 113. 
113. Genus CERYLE Boie. 
Belted Kingfisher. Upper parts, broad pectoral bar, and sides under the 
wings, dull blue with fine black shaft lines; lower eyelid, spot before eye, 
a cervical collar and under parts except as 
said, pure white; the @ with a chestnut 
belly-band, and the sides of the same color ; 
quills and tail feathers black, speckled, 
blotched or barred on the inner webs with 
white; outer webs of the secondaries and 
tail feathers like the back; wing coverts 
frequently sprinkled with white ; bill black, 
pale at base below; feet dark, tibie naked 
below ; a long, thin, pointed occipital crest ; 
plumage compact and oily to resist water, 
into which the birds constantly plunge after 
their finny prey. Length a foot or more ; 
wing about 6; tail 84; whole foot 14; 
culmen about 24. North America, com- 
: mon everywhere, resident or only forced 
southward by freezing of the waters. WHUxs., iii, 59, pl. 23, f. 1; Nurr., 
i fOO4 ATID uve 200. Dla 2O0smI>DaglOGs ia eer fay uno vant mAOMORE 
Cabanis’ Hingfisher. Glossy green; a cervical collar and the under parts 
white; ¢ witha rufous, ? with an imperfect, greenish, pectoral bar; quills 
and tail feathers black, partly 
like the back, with numerous 
white spots, mostly paired. 
Small; about 8; wing 34; 
tail 24. Valleys of the Rio 
Grande and Colorado, and 
southward. Cass., Ill. 255; Bp., 159, and Mex. Bound. Sury. ii, pl. 7; 
Fic. 123. Belted Kingfisher. ?. 
Fic, 124. Cabanis’ Kingfisher. 
CooP:; 3389) ikem os ee 14. UO Ue DAMERICANA Vare CARANISIEE: 
Family CUCULIDA. Cuckoos. 
Feet zygodactyle by reversion of the fourth toe. This character, in connection with 
those given below, will answer present purposes ; and in my ignorance of some of the 
exotic forms, I cannot attempt to give a full diagnosis. The family is a large and 
important one. It comprehends quite a number of leading forms showing peculiar 
minor modifications; these correspond in great measure with certain geographical 
areas of faunal distribution, and are generally held to constitute subfamilies. Three 
or four such are confined to America ; about twice as many belong exclusively to the 
Old World; among them are the Cuculince, or typical cuckoos allied to the Euro- 
pean C. canorus, famous, like our cowbird, for its parasitism. This section com- 
prehends the great majority of the Old World species; the Cowinc are a peculiar 
Madagascan type; others rest upon a special condition of the claws or plumage. 
There are about two hundred current species of the family. 
