1842 



THE PIC A RI AN BIRDS 



species." The laughing kingfisher breeds during August and September, and gen- 

 erally selects a hole in a large gum tree for the purpose, where it deposits its beauti- 

 ful pearl-white eggs on the decomposed wood at the bottom. When the young are 

 hatched, it defends its breeding place with great courage and daring, darting down 

 upon any intruder who may attempt to ascend the tree. The other species of the 

 genus are remarkable for the difference in the color of the tail, which is blue in the 

 male and rufous in the female. Closely allied to the " jackasses" are the curious 



AFRICAN WHITE-BREASTED KINGFISHER. 

 (Three-fifths natural size.) 



hookbilled kingfishers (Melidora macrorhina] , distinguished by a complete notch 

 near the end of the upper mandible, which thus ends in a hook. 



The most numerously represented group in the subfamily, these 

 birds have been called king hunters to distinguish them from the king- 

 fishers, inasmuch as many of the species do not fish at all. The genus 

 contains upward of sixty species, all of which are distinguished from the laughing 

 kingfishers by their more rounded wings and more compressed bill, which has a 



Wood King- 

 fishers 



