DUSKY, GRAY, AND SLATE-COLORED 313 



call-note, but is for the most part as silent as in the win- 

 ter. By short stages he reaches his nesting ground, in the 

 dark spruce forests from the northern limit of California 

 to Alaska, and here only may one hear him sing. Even 

 here he is the shyest of woodland choristers, seldom 

 seen, though his weird music floats through the silent 

 forest at twilight and dawn like the voice of a spirit 

 bird. It consists of five or six notes in a minor key, 

 each one uttered with a peculiar crescendo of its own, 

 complete and perfect in itself, yet in perfect harmony 

 with the others. In July, when his mate is brooding 

 somewhere among the dense spruces, he chants his 

 evening, hymn as full of holy transport as that of the 

 hermit thrush of the Adirondacks, or from the top of 

 some tall pine at daybreak he carols a matin. Never 

 does he seem either enthusiastic or hurried. His spirit is 

 as full of peace as the forest in which he makes his nest. 



WITH DUSKY, GRAX", AND SLATE-COLORED PLUMAGE 



390. BELTED KINGFISHER. — Ceryle alcyon. 

 Family: The Kingfishers. 



Length: 11.00-14.50. 



Head with occipita] crest ; bill heavy and longer than head ; wings 

 longer than tail. 



Adult Male : Upper parts, crest, and belt across the breast bluish slate- 

 color ; under parts and collar white ; wing-quills black, marked with 

 white ; middle tail-feathers slate-color ; other tail-feathers black, 

 spotted with white. 



Adult Female : Similar to male, but belly partially banded, and sides 

 washed with rufous. 



Geographical Distribution : North America. 



Breeding Range : United States and British Columbia. 



