BIRDS OF NEW YORK 135 



colder districts. In the fall it disappears between the loth of September 

 and the I2th of October, to pass the winter in South America. 



Habits. In habits it is very similar to the preceding species, but its 

 voice is much softer, " less wooden," and its long call is introduced by a 

 bubbling or gurgling note, and the cow or kyow notes are connected; while 

 the short call sounds more like kuk, kuk, kuk than like the corresponding 

 coo, coo, coo of the Yellow-bill. Around the author's camp on Canandaigua 

 lake the call of this bird is commonly heard at night, especially when the 

 moon is up, and Mr Gerald H. Thayer writes that near Mt Monadnock 

 he has frequently heard it at night while the bird was flying about in the 

 air at a great elevation. 



Its nest is of similar location and construction to that of the Yellow- 

 bill, but is more compactly built and is often lined with moss and pieces 

 of bark. The eggs are similar in number and in manner of deposition, 

 but are smaller, more oval in shape, and of a deeper greenish blue color, 

 measuring from .90 to 1.18 (average 1.15) by .75 to .90 (average .84) in 

 breadth. As in the case of the Yellow-billed cuckoo, they are occasionally 

 found in the nests of other birds. 



Family ALCEDIXIDA.E 



Kingfishers 



Feet small, syndactylous, the third and fourth toes coherent; inner 

 toe short, more or less rudimentary; tarsus very short; tibia small, bare 

 near the lower extremity ; bill long, deeply cleft; wings long; primaries 10, 

 fifth cubital present; tail feathers 12; no ambiens muscle; notches of the 

 sternum 4 in number; 2 carotids; tongue rudimentary; oil gland tufted; 

 no aftershaft; no coeca. 



This large family, like the cuckoos, is cosmopolitan in distribution, 

 consisting of about 200 species, mostly found in the eastern hemisphere, 

 especially in Australia. They are largely birds of bright or conspicuous 

 plumage, harsh voice, solitary habits, piscivorous or insectivorous diet, 

 and nest in holes, the insectivorous species often nesting in hollow trees. 

 The eggs are several in number, white and broadly oval in shape. The 



