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Genus CERYLE. 



Ispida apud Brissou, Orn. iv. p. 521 (1760). 

 Alcedo apud Linnaeus, Syst. Nat. i. p. 181 (1 766). 

 Ceryle, Boie, Isis, 1828, p. 316. 



This genus contains, according to Mr. Sharpe, thirteen species, which inhabit the Paleearctic, 

 Ethiopian, Oriental, Nearctic, and Neotropical Regions, only one species, Ceryle rudis, being 

 found in the Western Paleearctic Region, its range being given in the following article. 



In general habits the species belonging to the genus Ceryle do not differ greatly from 

 Alcedo, but they are much more sociable than those birds. They frequent rivers, streams, &c, 

 and, like Alcedo ispida, capture their .prey by pouncing on it from some elevated perch. They 

 feed almost entirely on small fish ; and I am not aware if they devour aquatic insects. Their 

 flight is swift and straight, steadied by rapid flutterings of the wings ; and their note is a shrill 

 whistle. They nest in deep horizontal holes excavated in steep banks, and deposit several 

 roundish, pure white, glossy eggs, which are placed on a small heap of dry clean grass at the 

 end of the nest-hole. 



Ceryle rudis, the type of the genus, has the bill longer than the head, straight, pentagonal 

 at the base, then tapering to a point ; gape-line straight, commencing below the eye ; nostrils 

 elongated, oval, exposed, the nasal membrane short; wings moderate or rather long, and broad, 

 the first quill very short, the second shorter than the fifth, the third and fourth longest ; tail 

 rather long, slightly rounded, very much longer than in Alcedo ; feet short, feeble, the three 

 anterior toes united at the base ; tibia bare below, the tarsus scutellate ; claws arched, com- 

 pressed, acute ; sexes dissimilar. 



An American species belonging to the present genus, Ceryle alcyon, has been twice killed 

 in Ireland (in 1845), one specimen having been obtained at Annsbrook and the other at Luggela, 

 Wicklow ; but I have not thought it advisable to include it. It is a large bird, about equal in 

 size to Ceryle rudis ; but the male is slaty blue above and white below, with a broad band of 

 slaty blue on the upper part of the breast, the female differing in having the flanks and pectoral 

 band below rufous. 



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