190 Mr. O. V. Aplin ow Me 



After the breeding-season they do no damage, and at all 

 seasons they are among the most familiar birds about houses 

 where there are trees. I have seen the mud walls of a 

 deserted ruined rancho pierced through and through with 

 holes, and disturbed Woodpeckers from the spot ; the holes 

 raay have been partly the work of the Minera. But I have 

 heard complaints of Woodpeckers damaging the woodwork 

 and walls of houses. The Pampas Woodpecker obtains 

 most of its food on the ground, and it is common to flush 

 them (in family parties after the breeding-season) when 

 riding over the camp. They perch crosswise on a branch 

 to a great extent, but are also very commonly seen 

 clinging vertically to and climbing up the trunks and larger 

 branches. 



■+"74. Ceryle torquata. Ringed Kingfisher. 



Met with on several occasions on the Arroyo Grande and 

 the Sta. Elena Sauce. It is generally a shy and wary bird, 

 taking alarm easily and flying a considerable distance ; when 

 the river is small and the moute not continuous it rises high 

 in the air when passing from one laguna to another ; at 

 other times it flies low up the middle of the river. But I 

 have once or twice watched it perched in full view at a 

 short distance. The flight is strong and steady, with rather 

 intermittent beats of the wings. This mode of flight is 

 common to the three species of Ceryle I met with, and the 

 birds fly more slowly than our English Kingfisher; but 

 C. amazona beats its wings faster than the present species, 

 and C. americana faster still. The attitude of the birds when 

 perched on a branch and somewhat alarmed is similar in all 

 three species. The body is held at an angle of 45°, or 

 perhaps a little more upright, the head forming rather more 

 than a right angle with the body; tail horizontal, crest 

 erected ; the wings are a little drooped and the tail nervously 

 jerked up at the same time. At rest, or when watching for 

 fish, they sit very much as our bird does ; but the long tail 

 gives them a diiferent appearance. Alarm-note a loud, 

 harsh, rattling cry. 



