BLACK-AND-WHITE KINGFISHER. 79 



ALCYONES. 



Family ALCEDINID^. f Bonaparte.) 



Genus Alcedo. fLinnceus.) 



Generic Characters. — Beak long, straight, quadrangular, pointed, sharp 

 edged, and very rarely depressed. Nostrils basal, lateral, obliquely pierced, 

 and almost entirely closed by a naked membrane. Feet short, naked 

 above the knee; three toes in front, the exterior of which is joined to 

 the middle toe as far as the second articulation, and this with the inside 

 toe as far as the first articulation. Hind toe broad at its base, and its 

 claw the smallest. First and second wing primaries shorter than the third, 

 which is the longest in the wing. 



BLACK-AND-WHITE KINGFISHER. 



Alcedo rudis. 



Alcedo rudis, Linn^us. 



" ispida ex alho et nigra varia, Brisson. 



" ispida hicincta et bitorquale, Swainson. 



" cerylevaria, Strickland. 



Ceryle rudis, BoiE. Bonaparte. 



Martin-pecheur pie, ' Of the French. 



Geschdcktcr Eisvogel, Of the Germans. 



Specific Characters. — Feathers of the occiput long and pointed; tail with 

 a broad black band, tipped with white at its end; a broad black band 

 across the crop, interrupted in the middle. Length from tip of beak to 

 end of tail eleven inches and a half; from carpal joint to tip of wing five 

 inches and a half; tail two inches and a half; beak two inches and a half; 

 tarsus one third of an inch; middle toe and claw one inch. 



This bird is only an accidental visitor to tlie European shores. 

 It has been observed in Turkey, Greece, Italy, and Spain; generally 



