94 BIRDS OF SOUTH DAKOTA 
FAMILY ALCEDINIDA. KINGFISHERS 
Kingfishers, as the name implies, are fishers and are usu- 
ally seen flying or perched above the water. Their sole diet 
seems to consist of fish. 
390. BELTED KINGFISHER (Ceryle alcyon.) 
It is about twelve inches in length, including a long, stout 
bill. The bushy crest and back are bluish gray; belly white or 
marked with rusty. . 
The chief characteristics are the white throat and neck 
bands. The male has a bluish gray breast band, which in the 
female is rusty. 
The Kingfisher, though not very abundant, is found in 
every State in the Union. Every stream, millpond and wooded 
lake shore is wakened by its rattling notes as it plunges in head- 
long flight from one dead limb perch to another. It lives entirely 
on small fish, which it takes by plunging into the water. Its 
nest is the enlarged end of a hole, sometimes eight or ten feet 
long, which it tunnels into some high bank. A summer resident. 
FAMILY PICIDAZ, WOODPECKERS 
South Dakota has a number of the choicest of this family. 
Theirs is the difficult task of chiseling through the bark to ex- 
tract wood borers that would destroy our trees. They also feed 
upon the insect eggs, larvae and cocoons found in bark crevices. 
They excavate nest holes in dead trees, and in the autumn some 
of them excavate winter homes. When these excavations have 
been used by them they become the natural nesting places of 
Wrens, Bluebirds and Chickadees. At one time the idea was 
prevalent that Woodpeckers usually constructed their nest holes 
so that the entrance was toward the northeast or east, but a care- 
ful survey made by one of the writers along the Missouri River 
in 1919 of over 70 holes would tend to disprove the statement, 
as 20 opened to the west, 17 to the north, 10 to the south, while 
6 opened to the northeast, and 2 to the east. 
The toes of Woodpeckers are arranged differently from 
those of most other birds, two being in front and two behind, 
which with their long nails enable them to cling to bark while 
climbing. They are also supported in climbing by their stiff 
tail feathers. 
