Kingfisher SONGLESS BIRDS. 



who bobs out of the clock, and will insist upon calling 

 mother's attention to the fact that it is bedtime. 



The Black-billed Cuckoo is locally less common than the 

 Yellow-billed, though both species are well represented. It 

 is often called the Rain Crow, because of its habit of calling 

 loudly in damp or cloudy weather. It haunts streams with 

 lightly wooded banks, and sets its rickety nest in a briary 

 tangle or thick shrubbery. In spring it associates in the 

 orchards with the Yellow-billed, but at other seasons its 

 food is quite different, and it lives upon fresh-water mol- 

 lusks and the larvae always to be found in numbers near 

 ponds. 



FAMILY ALCEDINID^E: KINGFISHERS. 

 Belted Kingfisher: Ceryle alcyon. 



PLATE 61. 



Length : 12-13 inches. 

 Male and Female : Long crest. Straight bill, longer than head ; head 



appearing large for size of body. Above lead-blue, somewhat 



variegated with black. Below whitish. Two dull blue bands 



across breast. White transverse bands and spots on the short 



tail. Female has rusty bands across breast. 

 Note : A harsh, rattling cry, as familiar along river banks as the Jay's 



scream in the woods. 

 Season : A common summer resident, which might almost be classed 



as a resident, as it comes in March, and in mild seasons often 



winters. 



Breeds : From Florida to Labrador. 



Nest : In hollow trees and in earth burrows ; 6-8 feet deep. 

 Eggs : 6-8, crystal white. 

 Range : North America, south to Panama and the West Indies. 



The Kingfisher may be easily named, as he sits on his 

 usual perch, a dead stump or limb jutting over the water, 

 by his large, long-crested head, which gives his body a bob- 

 tailed appearance. Living entirely upon fish, he is driven 

 from small streams to the larger rivers by the closing in of 

 the ice, but in open winters I have seen this bird in every 

 month from November to March. 

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