BELTED KINGFISHER 



GREAT BELTED KINGFISHER. 



PLATE XL. 



Alcedo alcyon, .... LINNAEUS. WILSON. 

 Ceryle alcyon, .... GRAY. 



THE Belted Kingfisher is an American species, of which 

 only two examples have occurred in Ireland, and these 

 possibly had escaped from confinement. 



The nest, composed of a few feathers and a little grass, 

 is placed in a hole in the steep bank of a river, the exca- 

 vation of the bird itself by means of its bill and claws, to 

 the depth of one or two feet. The same situation is 

 tenaciously revisited from year to year. 



The eggs are five in number, and the bird has been 

 known to go on laying, some of them having been from 

 time to time removed, to the number of eighteen. The 

 female sits in April. There seem to be two broods, of 

 which the first is hatched in the end of May or the beginning 

 of June. The old birds exhibit much solicitude for their 

 young. 



