40 LIFE HISTORIES OP NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS. 



found by Mr. W. H. "VYenier in comparative abundance at several ]wints in Comal 

 County, notably about some of" tlie springs that empty into the Guadalupe River. 

 A set of six eggs taken in April, 1878, was authenticated by the capture of both 

 parent birds, the female being caught on the nest. * * « The nesting cavity 

 was in a sand bank near the water's edge; the eggs were laid on the bare sand, 

 no fish bones or other extraneous inaterial being near. The entrance was not 

 quite If inches in diameter, and the hole extended inward from the face of the 

 bank about 3^ feet." * * * 



The nests of many of these little Kingfishers are yearly destroyed by high 

 water flooding their ])urrows, caused by heavy rains and cloud-bursts, which are 

 more or less prevalent in southern and western Texas. It is not uncommon on 

 both the Medina and San Antonio rivers, and a nesting site on the last-mentioned 

 stream found by Mr. C. H. Kearny, in the spring of 1892, containing six fresh 

 eggs, is described by him as being located in a bank about 15 feet high and 

 about 5 feet al)ove the water level. The nesting chamber, which was slightly 

 larger than the tunnel leading to it, was placed about 2 feet from the mouth of 

 the hole. There was no nest proper, but a few fish bones and scales were scat- 

 tered about the eggs. In the same bank a number of Bank Swallows (Clkncola 

 ripar'ui) had taken up temporary homes, and one of their holes was located within 

 a foot of that of the Kingfishers. They are devoted parents, and these birds 

 will usually allow themselves to be caught rather than forsake their eggs. They 

 generally are five or six in number, and, like the eggs of all Kingfishers, they are 

 pure white in color and unspotted. The shell is close grained, but rather tliin, 

 and while some sets are quite glossy, others show little or no luster. They are 

 usually rounded elliptical oval in shape, and not short ovate, like the majority of 

 the eggs of the Belted Kingfisher. 



The average measurement of fourteen eggs is 24.38 by 18.53 millimetres, or 

 0.96 by 0.73 inch. The largest Qgg measures 25.40 by 19.05 millimetres, or 1 by 

 0.75 inch; the smallest, 23.62 by 18.29 millimetres, or 0.93 by 0.72 inch. 



The type specimen. No. 20468 (PI. 1, Fig. 4), from a set of five eggs, Ben- 

 dire collection, was taken near New Braunfels, Texas, on March 4, 1879, and 

 represents an average egg of this species. 



14. Ceryle torquata (Linnjjus). 



RINGED KINGFISHER. 



Alcedo torquata Linnaeus, Systema Natura?, ed. 12, I, 1766, 180. 

 Ceryle torquata BoiE, Isis, 1828, 316. 



(B — , G — , R — C — U [390.1].) 



Geographical range : From southern Argentina north tlirough South and Central 

 America to northeastern Mexico (Nuevo Leon), and casually to the lower Rio Grande 

 Valley in Texas. 



This handsome Rufous-breasted Kingfisher, the largest found on the Ameri- 

 can continent, has a wide distribution, occurring in suitable localities throughout 

 the greater part of South America, the whole of Central America, and most of 



