The Oologist. 



VOL. XVII. NO. 9. 



ALBION, N. Y., NOV., 1900. 



Whole No. 170 



The Oologist. 



A Montmy Publication Devoted to 



OOLOGY, ORNITHOLOGY AND 

 TAXIDERMY. 



FRANK H. LATTIN, Editor and Publisher, 

 ALBION, N. Y. 



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^!^*WMIII W IIM — i— »— — i^i»a—— ^MiM^— »^— «> 



The Belted Kingfisher. 



Over nearly the whole of the United 

 States members of the angling craft are 

 familiar with our common representa- 

 tive of the family, the Belted Kingfish- 



er, Cerylealcyon. la some quarters, I 

 understand, this bi d is not to be 

 found, and again it is shown to share 

 territory with a species only found 

 west of the Mississippi. We will only 

 speak here of our familiar bird of the 

 East, known to almost everyone, and 

 so common along our small streams, as 

 well as upon our largest rivers, ponds, 

 and lakes, quite eight months of the 

 year. This bird, so abundant in the 

 Mississippi Valley, as also to the East 

 and way north into the British posses- 

 sions, has association with the fisher- 

 men who make it at once a bird of aug- 

 ury with many, as well as a pleasing 

 companion to anglers. I leave it to 

 others to judge the truth of the many 

 fabulous stories of this innocent bird, 

 mysterious stories which we hear so 

 often. That the earliest of the ancients 

 took much interest in the Kingfisher, 

 from an esoteric point of view, is fully 

 proven by writers as we have refer- 

 ences to it before the foundation of 

 Rome was laid, and some of the hiero- 

 glyphics of Egyptian historians attach 

 an interest to it as of marvelous powers. 

 In an inspection of its name we learn 

 much, both as to acknowledgement of 

 the bird's worth by ancients and mod- 

 erns, as well as the happy connection 

 between the Kingfisher and the anci- 

 ents. Kingfisher is a very ancient Eng- 

 lish name, and may be fonnd in many 

 books centuries old. The word "belted" 

 of course, is merely of specific distinc- 

 tion describing our bird, which has the 

 distinguishing feature of a broad belt 

 of color on its otherwise white breast. 

 It surely is an honor to a bird to be 

 named kingfisher, and we all, when 

 viewing our friend's performances on 

 the lake or stream, acknowledge that 



