BELTED KINGFISHER 225 



feathers of the back of the head long, often raised as a crest. 

 Ad. 9. — Similar to $ ■ band across the belly and sides chestnut. 

 Nest, in a deep hole in a bank of sand. Eggs, white. 



The Kingfisher is a summer resident of all parts of New 

 England and New York, appearing in April, as soon as the 



Fig. 68. Belted Kingfisher 



ice melts from the streams and ponds, and staying till Octoher, 

 Along Long Island Sound and in the lower Hudson Valley, 

 where there is open water all winter, a Kingfisher is occasion- 

 ally seen even at that season. Any point of lookout over the 

 water may hecome the Kingfisher's perch, — spar-huoys and 

 spindles in little coves and harbors, limbs of trees extending 

 over quiet mill-ponds or pools in mountain streams. Here 

 it sits and watches the water below, or when startled passes 

 along the shore or up the brook, with a loud cry, like a 

 watchman's rattle. It often hovers over one spot, with body 

 nearly perpendicular, and wings beating rapidly, watching 

 some fish below, ready to plunge and seize it in its long bill. 



