CEEYLE ALCYON, BELTED KINGFISHER. 273 



angry or alarmed. It has the habit, during early summer, of mounting 

 forty or fifty yards straight up in the air, poising itself a moment or 

 two, and then darting down again, repeating the sauie manoeuvre sev- 

 eral times in succession. Sometimes a score or more may be seen dart- 

 ing up and down together in this way for half an hour or more. 



This Hummingbird, breeds from the plains up to timber-line, and 

 probably raises two broods each season, as I have found young birds 

 just hatched, as late as the middle- of August. Its nest is an exquisite 

 little affair, so cunningly covered with lichens as to look precisely like 

 the limb on which it rests. One which I found was placed on a sway- 

 ing bough directly over a mountain-torrent, and within two or three 

 feet of the watex. The young are cared for and fed by the old birds 

 for some time after they leave the nest. They disappear in September. 

 Mrs. Maxwell, of Boulder, who has paid much attention to the birds 

 of this region for the last few years, informs me that she has seen on 

 two or three occasions, a Hummingbird with a flaming-red throat and 

 breast, much larger than the present species, a straggler from Mexico, 

 perhaps, as yet undetected within the limits of the United States [very 

 possibly Eugenes fulgens. — E. C.]. 



Family ALOEDINIDiE : Kingfishers. ^ 



^ ^ CEEYLE ALOYOlSr, (Linn.) Boie. - 



BcUed Kingfisher. 



Alcedo alc!ion,L,JNN., Syst. Nat. i, 1766, 180.— Gm., Syst. Nat. i, 1788, 451.— Lath., Ind. 

 Orn. i, 1790, 257 {Ispida caroVmensis cristata, Beiss., iv, 512 ; Belted Kingfisher, 

 Gates., Car. i, pi. 69 ; Arot. Zool. ii, No. 169 ; Gen. Syn. ii, 637 ; also, MartiR- 

 peckeur de la Louisiane, P. E. 715 ; Geu. Syn. ii, 637, and M.-p. huppe de St. 

 Domingae, P. E. 593).— ViElXL., Enc. Meth. 283. — WiLS. , Am. Orn. iii, 1811, 

 59.— Bp., Syn. 1828, 48.— Sw. & Rich., P. B. A. ii, 1831, 339.— AuD., Oru. Biog. 

 i, 1831, S94, pi. 77 ; Syn. 1839, 173 ; B. Am. iv, 205, pi. 255.— Nutt., Man. i, 

 1832, 594.— Gli!.; B. L. I. 1844, 172.— Maxim., J. f. O. vi, 1858, 102.— Tbippe, Pr. 

 Ess. Inst, vi, 1871, 117. 

 Cei-yle alcrjon, Boie, Isis, 1828, 316.— Bp., P. Z. S. 1837, 108 ; List, 1838, 10 ; Consp. Vol. 

 Anis. 10 ; Consp. Av. 160.— Gkay, Gen. of B. i, 82 : GosSB, B. Jam. 1847, 81 

 (Jamaica).— WooDH., Sitgr. Kep. 1853, 65.— Cass., 111. 185.5, 254; Cat. Hale. 

 Mus. Phila. 4.-Cab., J. f. O. iv, 1856, 101 (Cuba) ; Gundl., Eep. 1866, 292 

 (Cuba).— Bkew., N. A. Orn. 1357, 110, pi. 4, f. 52 (egg).- Newb., P. E. E. Eep. 

 vi, 1857,79.- Bd., B. N. A. 1858, igS.— Heeem., P. E. E. Eep. x, 1859, pt. vi, 

 57.— Moore, P. Z. S. 1859, 53 (Honduras).— NEV.r., Ibis, i? 18.S9, 07 (Santa ' 

 Cruz).- SCL., Ibis,i, 1859, 131 (Belize).— Tatloii, ifrirf. ii, 1860, 116 (Honduras).- 

 Bey., Pr. Bost. Soo. vii, 1859 (Br.hamas).- Soi.., P. Z. S. 1857, 233 ; 1859, 236, 

 367; 1860, 253 (Orizaba).— Mdeeay, Edinb. Pbilos. Journ. 1860 (Hudson's 

 Bay).— Coop. & Suck., N. H. Wash. Ter. 1860, 167.— Coues, Pr. Pbila. Acad. 

 1861, 217 (Labradoif).— Lawe., Ann. Lye. 1861, 318 (New Granada).— H.iyd., 

 Eep. 1862, 157.— Cab., Journ. 1862, 162 (Costa Rica).- Deess., Ibis, 1865, 471 

 (Texas).— Bey., Pr. Bost. Soc. 1866 (Porto Eico aud St. Domingo).— Coues, Pr. 

 Phila. Aciid. 1866, 59 (Arizona).— La VVP.., Ann. Lye. ix, 1868, 118 (Costa Eica).— 

 SnxD., Ofv. V. A. 1869, 585 (St. Bartholomew).— 'Dall& Ba.nx., Tr. Chic. Aead. 

 1, 1869, 275 (Alaska).— Coop., B. Cal. i, 1870, 336.— Stev., U. S. Geol. Surv. Ter. 

 1870, 463 '(Wyoming).— Allen, Bull. M. C. Z. ii, 1871, 300 (Florida); iii, 1872, 

 l'/9 (mountains up to 9,000 feet).— Aiken, I'r. Bost. Soc. xv, 1872, 206 (Colo- 

 rado).- Teippe, ibid. 233 (Iowa).— FiN80H,Abh. Nat. iii, 1872, 29 (Alaska).— 

 Haet., Man. Br. Birds, 1872, 124 (Ireland:).- Coues, Key, 1872, 188.— Snow, 

 B. Kans., 1873, 3.— B. B. & R., N. A. B. ii, 18V 4, 392, p\. 45, f. 6.— Shaepe, Monog. 

 AlcedinidW: 



Ispida alcyon, Sw., Clas'sif. of Birds, ii, 1837,336. 



Megacenjle alcyon, Reich., Handbuch, i, 1851, 25, pi. 412, figs. 3108, 3109. 



atreptoceryle alcyon, Cab., Mus. Hein. i, 1859, 151. 



Chloroceryle alcyon, ScL., Cat. Am. Birds, 1862, 264. 



Alcedo ludoviclana, Gm., Syst. Nat. i, 1788, 452 (P. E. 715, v. supra). 



Alcedo jaguacati, " DumOnt, Diet. Sci. Nat. i, 1816, 455." 



Alcedo guacu, " ViEiLL., Nouv. Diet. d'Hist. Nat. x;x, 1818, 406." 



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