THE BEE-EATERS. 35 
Famity ALCEDINIDA. IJKINGFISHERS. 
In this group occur the Halcyontnw, or Crab Hunters, of Gray, and the 
Alcedinine, or true Kingfishers. 
In the first-named division, the birds are confined to the Old World, the 
species of Dace/o being found in Australia and New Guinea: those of 
Tanysiptera occurring in New Guinea and the Philippine Islands; those 
of Halcyon being found in Africa, India, Australia, and the islands of the 
South Seas, and the species of Ceyw« in India and its archipelago. 
This author, in describing the characteristics of the typical genus Z/aleyon, 
says, — 
“These birds generally-reside, singly or in pairs, in the moist, open for- 
ests, or jungles on the sides of rivers and brooks, though some species are 
rarely observed in the neighborhood of water, while others frequent culti- 
vated places and plains. When flying, they usually utter a loud, rattling 
scream. They often sit for a long time on a pole or the lower branch of a 
tree, watching the space around them for the appearance of small reptiles, 
fish-crabs, insects and their larvie, which constitute their chief subsistence. 
Some species examine the flowers of the cocoa-nut trees for the insects that 
are found within them. ‘The nest is formed in the hollow trunks of trees, 
and the eggs are usually three or four in number.” 
Of the sub-family Aleed/ninw, the common Kingfisher (Alcedo ispida) 
of Europe, and the Belted Kinefisher of America, are types. 
f=) 
” says an English writer, “is common in most 
“The European Kingfisher, 
parts of Europe ; and there are few of our streams and rivers, flowing through 
fertile meads, abounding with fish, over which this beautiful but voracious 
bird may not be seen glancing backwards and forwards, its metallic hues elit- 
tering in the sun. Occasionally it hovers at a moderate elevation over the 
water, and then darts down, with astonishing velocity and suddenness, on 
some unwary fish, which, heedless of its foe, ventures near the surface, and 
which is seldom missed by the keen-eyed bird. The ordinary manner, how- 
ever, in which the Kingfisher captures its finny prey, is by remaining quietly 
perched on some stump or branch overhanging the water, and then intently 
watching, with dogged perseverance, for the favorable moment in which to 
make its plunge: it marks the shoals of minnows gliding past, the trout 
lurking beneath the concealment of some stone, or in the shadow of the 
bank, the roach and dace pursuing their course. At length, attracted by 
a floating insect, one rises to take the prize; at that instant, like a shot, 
down descends the glittering bird, the crystal water scarcely bubbling with 
its plunge ; the next moment it reappears, bearing its victim in its beak, 
with which it returns to its resting-place ; without loosing its hold, it passes 
