DUSKY, GRAY, AND SLATE-COLORED 313 
call-note, but is for the most part as silent as in the win- 
ter. By short stages he reaches his nesting ground, in the 
dark spruce forests from the northern limit of California 
to Alaska, and here only may one hear him sing. Even 
here he is the shyest of woodland choristers, seldom 
seen, though his weird music floats through the silent 
forest at twilight and dawn like the voice of a spirit 
bird. It consists of five or six notes in a minor key, 
each one uttered with a peculiar crescendo of its own, 
complete and perfect in itself, yet in perfect harmony 
with the others. In July, when his mate is brooding 
somewhere among the dense spruces, he chants his 
evening hymn as full of holy transport as that of the 
hermit thrush of the Adirondacks, or from the top of 
some tall pine at daybreak he carols a matin. Never 
does he seem either enthusiastic or hurried. His spirit is 
as full of peace as the forest in which he makes his nest. 
WITH DUSKY, GRAY, AND SLATE-COLORED PLUMAGE 
390. BELTED KINGFISHER. — Ceryle alcyon. 
Famity: The Kingfishers. 
Length : 11.00-14.50. 
Head with occipital crest ; bill heavy and longer than head ; wings 
longer than tail. 
Adult Male: Upper parts, crest, and belt across the breast bluish slate- 
color ; under parts and collar white; wing-quills black, marked with 
white; middle tail-feathers slate-color; other  tail-feathers black, 
spotted with white. 
Adult Female: Similar to male, but belly partially banded, and sides 
washed with rufous. 
Geographical Distribution: North America. 
Breeding Range: United States and British Columbia. 
