83 



BELTED KINGEISHEE. 



GREAT BELTED KINGFISHER. 

 PLATE XL. 



Alcedo alcyon, LINJOSTJS. WILSON. 



THE nest, composed of a few feathers and a little grass, is placed 

 in a hole in the steep bank of a river, the excavation 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 seems to be 

 two broods, of which the first is hatched the end of May or the 

 beginning of June. 



The figure is from an egg sent by J. R. De Capel Wise, Esq., of 

 Lincoln College, Oxford. 



