137 
FAMILY—ALCEDINIDA. KINGFISHERS. 
As there is only one species of the family in Canada the description 
given under the species will serve for the family. 
390. Belted Kingfisher. FR—LE MARTIN PECHEUR. Ceryle alcyon. L, 13-02. 
Plate XVII B. 
Distinctions. The great ragged crest and slaty-blue back of the Kingfisher cannot be 
very well confused with ary other American bird. The weak feet, three toes in front, 
the two outer (Figure 36, p. 24) joined for half their length, and the peculiar clumsy 
grasping surfaces are diagnostic of the Kingfishers. 
Field Marks. The ragged crest and large head, general coloration, and habit of sitting 
motionless on a perch overhanging the water or diving into it with a splash make the 
Kingfisher easily recognizable in life. 
a ei esting. Usually on ground at end of a tunnel driven in the face of an exposed earth 
an 
Distribution. All of North America, breeding wherever found in Canada. 
All frequenters of Canadian waters know the Kingfisher. It sits 
motionless on a commanding perch over the water watching for the fish 
below. Suddenly it dashes off, hangs suspended a moment in the air, and 
then drops with a resounding splash into the water, rising a moment later 
with a luckless fish in its capacious bill, and is off around the bend of the 
stream. Within its daily range the Kingfisher knows every perch and 
branch from which it can get a comprehensive view of its fishing grounds 
and returns to them again and again. Streams are not its only habitat; 
it frequents lakes and ponds and even the seashore. The Kingfishers 
fish sometimes at considerable distances from their nests as they are often 
seen in country where earth banks such as they require for nesting are 
few. However, they are adaptable and sometimes use the most unexpected 
substitutes, such as the earth clinging to the roots of an overturned tree, 
or the sides of a drainage ditch. 
Economic Status. The Belted Kingfisher lives upon small fish, and 
whether or not this constitutes a grave economic offence is a question 
that cannot be answered offhand. The minnows caught by this bird along 
our larger streams, ponds, or lakes are certainly not of importance, but 
when Kingfishers frequent small preserved trout streams they may possibly 
commit rather serious depredations. Their effect on the larger salmon 
waters is less clear. Ordinarily the fish they take are small perch, shiners, 
chub, and other minnows that frequent the surface or shallow warm water. 
The number of young game fish that are taken cannot be great. On waters 
given to the culture of trout the question is different. The fish taken 
there are comparatively well grown and even if they are not very numerous 
the Kingfisher cannot be looked upon with friendly eyes by the angler. 
On the salmon streams the Kingfishers are regarded with strong 
disfavour and the guardians are usually busy reducing their number with 
gun and trap on every possible occasion, and even offer bounties upon their 
heads and nests. How far this is justified is questionable. In many of 
these streams the fish have little other food than the smaller of their own 
species. The large fish, except the spring run of breeders, are all busy 
eating the small ones. The fry evidently live on micro-organisms and 
plankton, the fingerlings upon the fry, the parr upon the fingerlings, and 
so on. The fingerlings are those taken by the Kingfishers. Now if the 
final number of adult salmon depends on the fingerling, if the fingerling 
