BELTED KINGFISHER 



MALE-^Upper parts grayish-blue; a prominent crest; a 

 white spot before the eye'; bill large and stout and longer than 

 the head; wings and tail bluish marked and specked with 

 white ; throat and belly white ; a bluish band across the breast 

 resembling a belt. The female has a reddish band on the 

 breast where the male has a blue one. Length, twelve inches. 



This bird lives near brooks and along river banks where 

 it can easily obtain its favorite food which is fish. It may be 

 seen perched on a limb overhanging a stream, sharply watch- 

 ing the water below until a fish passes along. 



Suddenly it dives into the water with a loud splash and 

 almost instantly arises again to the saxnt perch, rarely failing 

 to bring a fish in its beak. If the fish is small, it is swallowed 

 at once; but if a larger one is caught, it is beaten against a 

 limb until dead, after which, with much flopping of wings and 

 gulping and straining, the bird manages to get it down whole. 



The Kingfisher sings no song. When it is frightened by 

 the approach of a person, it will rise and fly along the stream, 

 uttering a harsh grating sound much resembling a rattle. The 

 range is from Labrador to Florida. It winters from Virginia 

 to South America. It comes north in March and leaves in 

 November. 



The nest, made of strange material^, is placed beyond the 

 reach of all enemies. The birds dig a tunnel about six feet 

 long in the perpendicular bank of a river. The mouth of this 

 tunnel is just large enough to admit the passage of a single 

 bird, but the inner end is enlarged and rounded to provide 

 room for the parent birds and their nest. Here they make the 



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