CERYLE ALCYON. 39 



has a peculiarly flattened appearance for one 

 of its bulk, which gives its big head and 

 long, thick bill accentuated prominence 

 verging on the ludicrous in effect. At rest 

 it appears to sit unnecessarily close to its 

 feet, so to speak, its short legs being much 

 bent, as if in readiness for a leap into the air. 

 Therefore, for obvious reasons, the kingfisher 

 has been the despair of artists, luring them 

 with incomparable colors and repelling them 

 with absurdly unmanageable attitudes and 

 outlines. The poet even must falter at the 

 mouth of he bird's dismal subterraneous 

 den, wherein are stored the beautiful white 

 eggs. This semi-reptilian nest habit, not 

 much better than that of the land turtle, is 

 singularly out of keeping with the beautiful 

 cleanliness of the kingfisher's aerial and 

 aquatic life. So nice, indeed, is he, for the 

 most part, that water will not wet him when 

 he plunges into it, and he even comes out of his 

 dank, musty burrow without a touch of dirt 

 011 his resplendent feathers. 



The family (Alcedinidce) to which Ceryle 

 Alcyon belongs, consists of nineteen genera 

 and over a hundred species, but the fish- 

 eating members are the only burrowers, 

 probably, while the insect-eating and reptile- 

 catching ones nest, as a rule, in the hollows 

 of trees. We have but one genus (Ceryle) 

 and two species in the United States, the 

 second species being the Texas green king- 

 fisher (Ceryle Americana cabanisi). Alcyon 

 ranges as far north as Michigan, even much 

 farther, oscillating back and forth with that 

 weather temperature which keeps the small 

 streams free of ice. Leaving Michigan in 

 early autumn, where I saw Alcyon on the 

 northernmost point of the Leelenaw penin- 



