70 PICARIAN BIRDS. 



rollers, the deep plantar tendons of the foot are peculiar, the tendon which usually 

 supplies the first toe not serving that function in these three families, for the toe 

 in question is connected with the tendon which usually works the three front toes. 

 The eggs of the kingfishers are always laid in the hole of a bank of some kind, 

 or a tree, and are glossy white ; while the young birds, when hatched, are naked 

 and helpless, although in a little while they become covered with feathers, each of 

 which is enclosed in a sheath, thus giving the nestling a peculiar bristly appear- 

 ance. This sheath encloses the feather till it is almost fully grown, and then falls 

 off rapidly, leaving the feathers exposed ; although in all kingfishers and their 

 allies the plumage is never very dense. Indeed, in birds which have to plunge into 

 the water a fluffy plumage w r ould be greatly in the way, and hence w r e have in the 

 kingfishers a closely-fitting body-plumage, which does not get draggled or wet 

 through by the immersion w^hich it has to undergo. 



In 1871 the writer divided the kingfishers into two subfamilies, namely, the 

 fish-eating Alcedinince, and the insect or reptile-eating Dacelonince ; and even now 

 the kingfishers seem still to afford an illustration of the utility of considering the 

 habits of the birds as of primary importance. In this instance characters may be 

 found which can be correlated with the difference in the mode of life. Thus the 

 fish-eating kingfishers are equipped for their manner of living by the development 

 of a long and narrow bill, and a tail just long enough to act as a rudder, but not of 

 sufficient length to be in the way. On the other hand, the bush-kingfishers, which 

 feed less on fish and more on insects and reptiles, have the bill not so narrow or 

 compressed, but more flattened, and in some instances even hooked. Then, again, 

 whereas in the typical subfamily there is almost always a perceptible groove along 

 the bill, leaving the upper part of it in the form of a ridge, in the second group 

 the ridge of the bill is either rounded or flattened, and in one or two instances 

 there is even a groove along the middle of its upper surface. 



stork-Billed This subfamily includes five genera, the members of all of which 



Kingfishers. are essentially fish-catchers, although on occasion they will eat small 

 insects and crustaceans as well as other kinds of food. Two of the genera, viz. 

 Pelargopsis and Ceryle, although their representatives are thoroughly piscivorous, 

 have long tails, exceeding the length of the wings ; but in the other three, viz. 

 Alcedo, Corythornis, and Alcyone, the tail is conspicuously shorter than the wings. 

 The stork-billed kingfishers inhabit the Oriental region, and differ from the species 

 of Ceryle, the only other fish-eating genus with a long tail, in having the sexes 

 alike in colour, the bill very sharp and pointed, and the base of the upper edge or 

 culmen flattened and somewhat ridged, instead of being round and smooth. The 

 species of this genus are further characterised by their bright blue backs, thus 

 resembling those of the under-mentioned Halcyon, whereas in Ceryle there is no 

 bright blue colour. Of the stork-billed kingfishers eleven species are known, 

 their range extending from the Indian Peninsula and Ceylon, through the 

 Burmese and Malayan countries to Java, Sumatra, the Philippines, Borneo, and 

 Celebes. The species which inhabits the last island differs from all the 

 others in having a black bill, whereas in the rest it is coral-red. One of the best 

 known species is the Indian stork-billed kingfisher (P. gurial), which is a large 

 bird, measuring 14 inches in length, with a wing of nearly 6J inches. The general 



