08 



VERTEBRATA. 



among thom tho J5kltki) Kingfisher, C. ale yon : this is a gcncival inhabitant of the United 

 States, auii, with a single exception, is the only species known to this country. It is twelve 

 inches long, of robust form, the upper parts and a belt across the breast light ashy-blue, beneath 

 white. < >ii the head the feathers are often lifted into a cr«st. Wilson, in his happy vein, says: 

 "Like the lovelorn swains of whom the poets tell us, he delights in running streams and felling 

 waters; not, however, merely that they may soothe his ear, but for a gratification somewhat more 

 substantial. Amid the roar of the cataract, or over the foam of a torrent, he sits perched upon 

 an overhanging bough, glancing his piercing eye in every direction below for his scaly prey, 

 which, with a sudden, circular plunge, he sweeps from their native element, and swallows in an 

 instant, llis voice, which is not unlike the twirling of a watchman's rattle, is naturally loud, 

 harsh, and sudden, but is softened by the sound of the brawling streams and cascades among 

 which he generally rambles. He courses along the windings of the brook or river, at a small 

 height above the surface, sometimes suspending himself by the rapid action of liis wings, like cer- 

 tain species of hawks, ready to pounce on the fry below ; now and then settling on an old, dead 

 overhanging limb to reconuoiter. Mill-dams are particularly visited by this feathered, fisher, and 

 the sound of his pipe is as well known to the miller as the rattling of his own hopper. Rapid 

 streams, with high perpendicular banks, particularly if they be of a hard clayey or sandy nature, 

 are also favorite places of resort for this bird ; not only because in such places the small fish are 

 more exposed to view, but because those steep and dry banks are the chosen situations for his 

 nest. Into these he digs with bill and claws horizontally, sometimes to the extent of four or five 

 feet, at the distance of a foot or two from the surface. The fcAv materials he takes in are not 

 always placed at the extremity of the hole, that he and his mate may have room to turn with 

 convenience. The eggs are five, pure white, and the first brood usually comes out about the be- 

 ginning of June, and sometimes sooner, according to the part of the country where they reside. 

 They are very tenacious of their haunts, breeding for several successive years in the same hole, 

 and do not readily forsake it, even though it be visited." 



The Texan Green Kingfisher, C. Americana., is only about seven inches long, and is well 

 known in South America ; it has been seen in Texas on the Rio Grande. Several other species of 

 the genus are known in Mexico and South America, 





'mkl^^i^: 



THE BLACK-BANDED DACELO. 



Genus DACELO : Bacclo. — This includes several species, found in various parts of the world, 

 and called Martin Chasseur by the French ; they are noted for a large, heavy bill, and for feed- 

 ing on earth-worms, larvae, and insects, instead of fish. Their haunts are marsliy and humid spots 

 in forests. The Black-danded Dacelo, D. atricapilla, is a large species, found at the Cape of 

 Good Hope. 



The Great Brown Kingfisher or Gigantic Dacelo, D. ff iff antea, \s eighteen inches long; 



