THE BELTED KINGFISHER. 125 



SUB-ORDER CLAMATORES. SCREAMERS. 



FAMILY ALCEDINIDJE. THE KINGFISHERS. 



Head large ; bill long, strong, straight, and sub-pyramidal, usually longer than 

 the head; tongue very small; wings short; legs small, the outer and middle toes 

 united to their middle; toes with the usual number of joints (2, 3, 4, 5). 



The gape of the bill in the Kingfishers is large, reaching to beneath the eyes; 

 the third primary is generally longest, the first decidedly shorter; the secondaries 

 vary from twelve to fifteen in number, all nearly equal ; the secondaries cover at 

 least three-quarters of the wing ; the tail is short, the feathers twelve in number, 

 they are rather narrow, the outer usually shorter; the lower part of the tibia is bare, 

 leaving the joint and the tarsus uncovered; the tarsus is covered anteriorly with 

 plates, behind, it is shagreen-like or granulated ; the hind toe is connected with the 

 inner, so as to form with it and the others a regular sole, which extends unbroken 

 beneath the middle and outer as far as the latter are united; the inner toe is much 

 shorter than the outer; the claws are sharp, the middle expanded on its inner edge, 

 but not pectinated. 



CERYLE, BOIE. 



Ceryle, BOIE, Isis (1828) 316 (type C. i-udis). 



Bill long, straight, and strong, the culmen slightly advancing on the forehead, 

 and sloping to the acute tip: the sides much compressed; the lateral margins rather 

 dilated at the base, and straight to the tip; the gonys long and ascending; tail 

 rather long and broad ; tarsi short and stout. 



CERYLE ALCYON. Bole. 

 ^ The Belted Kingfisher. 



Alcedo akyon, Linnaeus. Syst. Nat., I. (1766) 180. Wilson, Am. Orn., III. 

 (1811) 59. Aud. Orn. Biog., I/(1831) 394. 

 Ceryle alcyon, Boie. Isis, (1828) 316. 



DESCRIPTION. 



Head with a long crest ; above blue, without metallic lustre ; beneath, with a con- 

 cealed band across the occiput, and a spot anterior to the eye, pure-white; a band 

 across the breast, and the sides of the body under the wings, like the back; prima- 

 ries white on the basal half, the terminal unspotted ; tail with transverse bands and 

 spots of white. 



Young, with the sides of body and a transverse band across the belly below the 

 pectoral one, light-chestnut; the pectoral band more or less tinged with the same 



Length of adult, about twelve and three-quarters inches; wing, six or more. 



Hob. The entire continent of North America. 



