174 



THE TEIDACTYLOUS KINGFISHER 



of the tail. The two central tail feathers are much prolonged, considerably exceeding 

 the others in length, and are very curiously shaped, being webbed at their bases, bare for 

 nearly the whole of their length, and again webbed at the extremities. Their colour 

 throughout is blue, the tips being white, as are the remaining feathers of the tail with the 

 exception of their blue edges. The whole of the under parts are white. 



The Ternate Kingfisher is a native of New Guinea, and from thence its skin has often 

 been sent to Europe, but in a mutilated state, the natives being in the habit of depriving 

 it of its legs and wings before parting with the skin. The Paradise birds were long treated 

 in the same manner, until the sportsmen learned that they could sell the entire bird at a 

 better price than when it had been mutilated. 



In the birds which form the genus Ceyx there are only three toes, and one of them 

 very strong, the tail is very short, and the bill straight, like that of the common King- 

 fisher of Europe. The reader must note that the word Ceyx is dissyllabic. 



The TEIDACTYLOUS Kingfisher 



is a native of Java, Borneo, and 



the whole of the Indian Archi- 



~ ' _, """^^ " , pelago, and is said to have been 



discovered even upon the con- 

 tinent itself Although a very 

 little bird, it is one of the most 

 brilliantly coloured of the entire 

 group, and hardly yields even to 

 the gem-like humming-bird in the 

 metallic and glittering colour of 

 its plumage. Even the united aid 

 of pencil and brush can give but 

 little idea of the extreme beauty 

 of the colouring of this bird, for 

 the glowing richness of the tints 

 as they flash and glitter with every 

 movement of the bird and vary 

 momentarily in hue and tone, is 

 far beyond the power of art, and 

 sets at nought the colours of the 

 most skilful painter. 



The head of the Tridactylous 

 Kingfisher, as well as the whole 

 upper surface of the body, is a deep rich lilac, and the wings are stained with a most 

 beautiful and singular mixture of deep blue and ultramarine, the centre of each feather 

 being of the former tint, and the edges of the latter hue. The whole 6f the under surface 

 is pure white, the feet are red, and the bill is a pale carmine. In its dimensions it is 

 exceedingly small, being one-third less than the common Kingfisher of Europe. 



The interesting birds which are gathered into the genus Ceryle may be known by 

 the thick, compressed, and sharply pointed beak, the comparatively long and rounded tail, 

 and the length of the front inner toe. To this genus may be referred all the American 

 species of this group, one of which, the Belted Kingfisher, forms the subject of the 

 illustration. 



The Belted Kingfisher is an inhabitant of many parts of America, and as it is in the 

 habit of migrating northward or southward according to the season of year and the state 

 of the temperature, it is a very familiar bird throughout the gi'eater part of America, from 

 Mexico to Hudson's Bay. So common is it in these regions that, according to Wilson, 

 " mill-dams are periodically visited by this feathered fisher, and the sound of his pipe is 

 as well known to the miller as the sound of his own hopper." 



The sight of the Belted Kingfisher is singularly keen, and even when passing with its 



TRIDACTYLOUS KINGFISHER.— Ccj/x Tridactyla. 



