40 LIFE HISTORIES OP NOETH AMERICAN" BIRDS. 



found by Mr. W. H. Werner in comparative abundance at several points in Comal 

 County, notably about some of the springs that empty into the Guadalupe River. 

 A set of six eggs taken in April, 1878, was authenticated by the capture of both 

 parent birds, the female being caught on the nest. * * * The nesting cavity 

 was in a sand bank near the water's edge; the eggs were laid on the bare sand, 

 no fish bones or other extraneous material being near. The entrance was not 

 quite If inches in diameter, and the hole extended inward from the face of the 

 bank about 3J feet." * * * 



The nests of many of these little Kingfishers are yearly destroyed by high 

 water flooding their burrows, caused by heavy rains and cloud-bursts, which are 

 more or less prevalent in southern and western Texas. It is not uncommon on 

 both the Medina and San Antonio rivers, and a nesting site on the last-mentioned 

 stream found by Mr. C. H. Kearny, in the spring of 1892, containing six fresh 

 eggs, is described by him as being located in a bank about 15 feet high and 

 about 5 feet above the water level. The nesting chamber, which was slightly 

 larger than the tunnel leading to it, was placed about 2 feet from the mouth of 

 the hole. There was no nest proper, but a few fish bones aiid scales were scat- 

 tered about the eggs. In the same bank a number of Bank Swallows (CUvicola 

 riparia) had taken up temporary homes, and one of their holes was located within 

 a foot of that of the King-fishers. They are devoted parents, and these bii'ds 

 will usually allow themselves to be caught rather than forsake their eggs. They 

 generally are five or six in number, and, like the eggs of all Kingfishers, they are 

 •pure white in color and imspotted. The shell is close grained, but rather thin, 

 and while some sets are quite glossy, others show little or no luster. They are 

 usually rounded elliptical oval in shape, and not short ovate, like the majority of 

 the eggs of the Belted Kingfisher. 



The average measurement of fourteen eggs is 24.38 by 18.53 millimetres, or 

 0.96 by 0.73 inch. The largest egg measures 25.40 by 19.05 millimetres, or 1 by 

 0.75 inch; tlie smallest, 23.62 by 18.29 millimetres, or 0.93 by 0.72 inch. 



The type specimen. No. 20468 (PI. 1, Fig. 4), from a set of five eggs, Ben- 

 dire collection, was taken near New Braunfels, Texas, on March 4, 1879, and 

 represents an average egg of this species. 



14. Ceryle torquata (LiNNiEus). 



RINGED KINGFISHER. 



Alcedo torquata Linnaeus, Systema Naturaj, ed. 12, I, 17G6, 180. 

 Geryle torquata Boie, Isis, 1828, 316. 



(B — , G — , R — , C — U [390.1].) 



Geographical range: From southern Argentina north through South and Central 

 America to northeastern Mexico (Nuevo Leon), and casually to the lower Eio Grande 

 Valley in Texas. 



This handsome Rufous-breasted Kingfisher, the largest found on the Ameri- 

 can continent, lias a wide distribution, occurring in suitable localities throughout 

 the greater part of South America, the whole of Central America, and most of 



