492 ,The Roller-like Birds 



higher level than the entrance. The eggs, usually five to six but sometimes as 

 many as ten, are placed on the bare ground, on a slight covering of grass, or 

 if the nest is an old one, upon fish bones and scales, the remnants of former 

 captures. " The young when first hatched are blind, perfectly naked, helpless, 

 and, in a word, very unprepossessing. They scarcely look like birds while 

 crawling about in the nest, where they remain several weeks, their growth being 

 very slow." 



Other American Kingfishers. Much larger than the last species, reaching 

 a length of sixteen or seventeen inches, is the handsome Ringed Kingfisher (C. 

 torquata) of northwestern South America and Central America, and northward 

 casually to the lower Rio Grande Valley in Texas. The under parts except for 

 the white throat are nearly all bright chestnut. Their habits, including the 

 selection of the nesting site, are similar to those of the common American species. 

 The only other North American species is the Texan Kingfisher (C. americana 

 septentrionalis), which ranges from Panama north through Central America and 

 Mexico into southwestern Texas. Only eight inches long, it is a metallic bronzy 

 green or bottle-green variously speckled with white above and white, spotted 

 with greenish below, the male with a reddish chestnut band across the breast. 

 They nest in banks along streams and have habits similar to those of the other 

 species mentioned. Of wide distribution throughout South America is the 

 Little Kingfisher (C. americana), the parent form of which the last-mentioned 

 is a northern geographical race. Mr. Barrows found it " resident throughout 

 the year at Concepcion, but especially abundant in winter, where it haunts the 

 main river, the island shores, and all the streams, big and little; it is not in the 

 least shy." The largest of the white-bellied group of American green-backed 

 Kingfishers is the handsome Amazonian Kingfisher (C. amazona), which is wide- 

 spread throughout Central and South America. About twelve inches in length, 

 it is almost precisely similar in coloration to C. americana, of which it is, figu- 

 ratively, a " large edition." It is very abundant throughout the v^hole of the 

 Amazon region, nesting in an extremely deep hole in fiat-faced banks along 

 rivers, and laying usually four eggs. Similar but much smaller is Cabanis's 

 Green Kingfisher (C. cabanisi) of Peru, while of about the same size, but with 

 the whole under surface orange-chestnut, is the Rufous and Green Kingfisher 

 (C. inda) of Central and South America. The little Green and Orange-colored 

 Kingfisher (C. superciliosus) is the pygmy among American forms, attaining 

 a length of only five inches. The male is shining green above and reddish orange 

 beneath, the neck with a ring of white, and the forehead, sides of the head, and 

 wing-coverts are spotted with ochre or pale reddish. This species ranges from 

 Bolivia and Brazil north to Guiana and Trinidad. 



Pied Kingfishers. Of wholly different appearance, which has won for them 

 the collective name of Pied Kingfishers, are the five Old World members of 

 the genus. Of these the true Pied Kingfisher (C. rudis) is perhaps best known, 

 being widely distributed from Asia Minor to the Persian Gulf, Palestine, Egypt, 

 and tropical Africa. About eleven inches in length, it has a conspicuously 

 crested head, the plumage above being black marked and varied with white, 



