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BELTED KINGSFISHER. 



Alcedo Alcyon, Linn. 



PLATE LXXVII. Vol. I. p. 394. 



Dr TowNSEND found this species on the Missouri, the Rocky Moun- 

 tains, and the Columbia River. Dr Richardson informs us that it fre- 

 quents all the large rivers in the Fur Countries up to the 67th degree 

 of latitude, and I have met with it from within the Texas to the shores 

 of Labrador. I have also seen it on the higher and sandy Keys of the 

 Floridas, where, however, I am not sure that it breeds. I have seen 

 this bird fishing in salt water in a great number of instances. It is 

 extremely hardy, and those individuals, which migrate northward to 

 breed, seldom return towards our Southern States, where they spend the 

 winter, until absolutely forced to do so by the great severity of the 

 weather. The eggs measure 1^ inch in length, by 1 inch in breadth, 

 and are thus of a roundish form. Dr Brewer of Boston informs me, 

 that it abounds on the borders of all the ponds and rivers in Massachu- 

 setts, and that he found a nest containing two eggs on a hard gravel 

 bank, on the borders of Charles River, Cambridge. 



An adult male preserved in spirits measures to end of tail \^\ in- 

 ches, to end of wings \1\, to end of claws lOi^g ; wing from flexure 6| ; 

 1 ail 4. The roof of the mouth is rather flat behind, with the sides slop- 

 ing upwards ; it has two short longitudinal ridges, and is covered with 

 minute papillae. The posterior aperture of the nares is linear behind, 

 oblong before, ^ inch in length. The anterior part of the palate is mo- 

 derately concave, with a median ridge and numerous oblique lateral 

 grooves. The lower mandible is also moderately concave, with a pro- 

 minent middle line. The tongue is very short, only 5 twelfths in length, 

 2^ twelfths in breadth, fleshy, with two lateral prominent lamellae at the 

 base, its upper siuf ace slightly convex, its sides parallel until 2 twelfths 

 from the tip, when it tapers abruptly to a bluntish point. The breadth 

 of the mouth is 11^ twelfths. The cesophagus, ah c,\s, b\ inches long, 

 of the uniform width of 7 twelfths ; its parietes very thin, the inner coat 

 thrown into longitudinal rugae. The liver is large, its left lobe much 



