26 KINGFISHER 



white tips to the tail-feathers distinguish this species from the 

 preceding. 



Range. A more northern species than the Yellow-billed 

 Cuckoo. Nests from Virginia (Georgia in the mountains) to 

 Quebec; winters in tropical America, reaching the southern 

 States in April. 



Washington, rather rare S. R., May 5— Oct. 6. Ossining, com- 

 mon S. R., May 3-Oct. 7. Cambridge, common S. R., May 12- 

 Sept. 20. N. Ohio, tolerably common S. R„ May i-Sept. 25. 

 Glen Ellyn, S. R., May 5-Oct. 21. SE. Minn., common S. R., 

 May 8-Sejpt. 2^. 



The day after penning the foregoing notes on the Yellow- 

 billed Cuckoo, I saw a Black-bill make a prolonged, dash- 

 ing flight through the open, alight on the limb of a dead, 

 leafless tree, directly over a young girl who was calling 

 loudly to an active dog near her, and from this conspicuous 

 perch utter its low coo-coo notes, both looking and sounding 

 more like a Dove than a conventional Cuckoo. So while 

 we may say that the Cuckoos are much alike in habits 

 one must not accept generalized statements too literally. 

 There is much individuality among birds, a fact that makes 

 their study far more interesting than if all were_cast in the 

 same mold. 



The notes of this species are softer than those of the 

 Yellow-bill, but the difference between the calls of the two 

 species must be learned from the birds, not from books. 

 The nest of the Black-bill is the more compactly built of 

 the two, and its eggs are of a deeper shade. 



KINGFISHERS. FAMILY ALCEDINID^J 



^BELTED KINGFISHER 

 Ceryle alcyon. Case 3, Fig. 18; Case 5, Fig. 10. 



The female resembles the male, but the sides and the band 

 across the breast are reddish brown. This is our only King- 

 fisher. Crest, color, size, habits, all distinguish him. L. 13. 



Range. North America; winters from Illinois and Virginia 

 southward; migrates north in early April. 



