AYES. 465 



most of the species inhabit the islands of the Indian Archipelago or 

 of the South Sea. This group corresponds to the genus Alcedo 

 of LINNAEUS, with the exception of his last two species, which 

 belong to the genus Galbula, (see above p. 458). 



Alcedo L. (Alcedo SWAINS., GRAY, Alcyone SWAINS., GRAY.) 

 Bill slender, compressed, acute at the tip. Wings with second and 

 third quills subequal, third longest of all, first little shorter than 

 these. Tail very short, even. Feet weak; anterior inner toe very 

 short or none. 



Sp. Alcedo ispida L., BUFF. PI. enl. 77, NAUM. Taf. 144, Cuv. R. Ani., ed. 

 iU., Ois. PL 46, fig. i ; the kingfisher, le martin-pe'cheur, der Eis-vogel; the 

 middle of the back azure-blue, the wings blue-green, abdomen ferruginous, 

 the throat white, the legs red, the bill brown-black ; a shy, solitary bird of 

 passage, commoner in the south than in the north of Europe; occurs 

 also in Asia Minor and the North of Africa ; it feeds on fish, and watches 

 for its prey on the banks of rivers often for hours together. The nest is a 

 narrow hole dug by its bill in the bank near the water's edge and covered 

 with fine fish-bones. The female lays from 6 to 8 glossy white eggs. The 

 young, at first entirely naked, are fed with Libellulce. A very similar, 

 somewhat smaller species of Asia, is Alcedo bengalensis GM., which occurs 

 not only in Bengal, but also at Timor, the Philippine Islands and Japan, 

 Faun. Jap. Av. Tab. 38; Alcedo cristata~L., BUFF. PL enl. 756, fig. t, 

 LESSON Ornith. PI. 29, fig. i. GUER. Iconogr., Ois. PI. 28, fig. i ; a small 

 species, blue above, ruddy below, with crest-feathers blue with black spots ; 

 from the Cape of Good Hope." 



The species without inner toe (pedibus tridactylis) form the sub-genus 

 Alcyone SWAINS., GRAY. To it belong Alcedo solitaria,Ceyx solitaria TEMM. 

 PL col. 595, fig. i] Alcedo pusilla, Ceyx pusilla TEMM. ib. fig. 3, a very 

 small species ; head, back, wings and tail azure-blue, breast and belly pure 

 white ; both from New Guinea, &c. 



Ceryle BOIE, GRAY, Ispida SWAINS. Bill thick, compressed, 

 acute at the tip. Tail somewhat long, rounded. Anterior inner 

 toe longer than hallux. (Other characters of the preceding genus.) 



Sp. Ceryle rudis, Alcyon rudis L., BUFF. PI. enl. 716 (and 62, young bird); 

 Western Asia and Europe; Ceryle maxima, Alcedo maxima PALL., Ispida 

 gigantea SWAINS. Birds of West. Africa, n. PI. 1 1, BUFF. PL enl. 679, 

 Senegal; Ceryle lugubris, Alcedo lugubris TEMM. PL col. 548, Faun. Jap. 

 Av. Tab. 38 B, from Japan, e. They are all large birds, black and white 

 variegated, or bluish-grey plumage. To this genus alone the few American 

 species of this family belong, as Ceryle Alcyon, Alcedo Alcyon L., BUFF. 

 PL enl. 715, WILSON Am. Orniih., ed. JARD. i. PI. 23, fig. i, p. 348; in 

 North America from Hudson's Bay to Mexico ; the only species of king- 

 fisher of the United States. 



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