BELTED KINGFISHER. 239 



to secure one of these birds, long after night had closed, 

 I tried in vain. The first time, I fitted a small net bag 

 to the entrance, and returned home. Next morning the 

 bird had scratched a passage under the net, and thus 

 escaped. The following evening I saw it enter the hole, 

 and having procured a stick that filled the entrance for 

 upwards of a foot, I felt certain of obtaining it ; but 

 before I reached the place the next day, it had worked its 

 way out. After this I abandoned my attempt, although 

 the bird continued to repose in the same hole. I have 

 met with this species from within the Texas to the shores 

 of Labrador ; I have also seen it on the higher and sandy 

 Keys of the Floridas, where, however, I am not sure that 

 it breeds. I have seen this bird fishing in salt water in a 

 great number of instances, and have made a note of seeing 

 this bird plunge into the sea after small fry at Powles 

 Hook, in the bay opposite to the city of New York." It 

 is said to abound on the borders of all the ponds and 

 rivers in Massachusetts, and Mr. Townsend found this 

 species on the Missouri, the Rocky Mountains, and the 

 Columbia River. 



The eggs measure one inch and a quarter in length, 

 by one inch in breadth, and are thus of a roundish form. 

 Mr. Audubon, in his Birds of America, has given three 

 coloured figures of this species, characteristic of its 

 plumage and habits. 



The whole length of this bird is very nearly fifteen 

 inches. From the point of the bill to the feathers on the 

 forehead, two inches ; the bill quadrangular in size, but 

 higher than broad, straight and pointed, culmen grooved 

 on each side, in colour a shining bluish black, under 

 mandible lighter at the base, the commissure straight ; 

 irides hazel ; the feathers of the head and cheeks dark 

 blue, with a white spot just before, and another under the 



