AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY. 273 



^/f$*&GED KINGFISHER 



A. O U. No 3911 (Ceryle torauata.) 



RANGE. 



Found in the United States only in southern Arizona and Texas. 



DESCRIPTION. 



Similar in coloration to the common Belted Kingfisher but much 

 larger averaging fifteen or sixteen in. in length; the underparts back of 

 the bluish gray breast band are a uniform chestnut, this color extending 

 to the lining of the wings; the bluish 1 gray color of the back and breast 

 band is a great deal brighter than that of the common Kingfisher; the 

 bill is even longer and heavier in proportion than that of our native 

 bird. 



HABITS. 



The Ringed or Rufous-breasted Kingfisher is the largest and perhaps 

 the most handsome of the species found on the American Continent. 

 It is met with quite often in Central America and in common in South 

 America. Like the commonly known species they are always found in 

 the vicinity of water and also live almost exclusively upon fish which 

 they catch by diving or dropping upon from an elevation over the 

 water. Their loud rattling cry, uttered as they go from point to point 

 over the water is said to indistinguishable from that of the Belted 

 Kingfisher. 



They are tropical birds and become scarcer and scarcer as we go 

 north, and while quite rare over our borders they are apt to occur at 

 any time during the summer. 



UNDERGROUND TENANTS. 



Last June a friend, while roaming about on the edge of some woods, 

 suddenly felt the earth giving away beneath his feet and sprang to one 

 side just in time, as he soon found, to avoid treading upon a whole 

 family of little Kingfishers. Probably the old birds had misjudged the 

 thickness of the earth and had made the roof of their underground 

 house too high for there was scarcely half an inch of thickness of dirt 

 separating their home from the outer world. The next day he was 

 very enthusiastic in his description of how handsome they were and 



