THE BELTED KINGFISHER. 125 



SUB-ORDER CLAMATORES. SCREAMERS. 



FAMILY ALCEDINIDJE. THE KINGFISHERS. 



Head large ; bill long, strong, straight, and sub-pyramidal, usually longer than 

 the head; tongue very small; wings short; legs small, the outer and middle toes 

 united to their middle; toes with the usual number of joints (2, 3, 4, 5). 



The gape of the bill in the Kingfishers is large, reaching to beneath the eyes; 

 the third primary is generally longest, the first decidedly shorter; the secondaries 

 vary from twelve to fifteen in number, all nearly equal; the secondaries cover at 

 least three-quarters of the wing ; the tail is short, the feathers twelve in number, 

 they are rather narrow, the outer usually shorter; the lower part of the tibia is bare, 

 leaving the joint and the tarsus uncovered; the tarsus is covered anteriorly with 

 plates, behind, it is shagreen-like or granulated; the hind toe is connected with the 

 inner, so as to form with it and the others a regular sole, which extends unbroken 

 beneath the middle and outer as far as the latter are united; the inner toe is much 

 shorter than the outer; the claws are sharp, the middle expanded on its inner edge, 

 but not pectinated. 



CERYLE, BOIE. 



Ceryle, BOIE, Isis (1828) 316 (type C. rudis). 



Bill long, straight, and strong, the culmen slightly advancing on the forehead, 

 and sloping to the acute tip; the sides much compressed; the lateral margins rather 

 dilated at the base, and straight to the tip; the gonys long and ascending; tail 

 rather long and broad ; tarsi short and stout. 



CERYLE ALCYON. Bow. 

 The Belted Kingfisher. 



Alcedo alcyon, Linnaeus. Syst. Nat., I. (1766) 180. Wilson, Am. Orn., III. 

 (1811) 59. Aud. Orn. Biog., I. (1831) 394. 

 Ceryle alcyon, Boie. Isis, (1828) 316. 



DESCRIPTION. 



Head with a long crest; above blue, without metallic lustre; beneath, with a con- 

 cealed band across the occiput, and a spot anterior to the eye, pure-white; a band 

 across the breast, and the sides of the body under the wings, like the back ; prima- 

 ries white on the basal half, the terminal unspotted; tail with transverse bands and 

 spots of white. 



Young, with the sides of body and a transverse band across the belly below the 

 pectoral one, light-chestnut; the pectoral band more or less tinged with the same. 



Length of adult, about twelve and three-quarters inches ; wing, six or more. 



Hob. The entire continent of North America. 



