KINGFISHERS 



(390) Ceryle alcyon 



{Linn.) (Gr., a kingfisher; Lat., a king- 

 fisher). 



BELTED KINGFISHER. Bill 

 large and strong. Feet weak; outer 

 toes joined together for nearly their 

 whole length. Head crested. Ad. 

 & — With a gray breast band but 

 no rufous or chestnut on the under 

 parts. Ad. 9 — As shown. With 

 a gray breast band; sides and an 

 incomplete band across lower breast 

 bright chestnut. Wing and tail 

 feathers spotted or barred with white. 

 L., 13.00; W., 5.25; T., 4.00; B., 

 2.00. Nest — Five to eight glossy 

 white eggs, 1.35 x 1.05, laid in an 

 enlarged chamber at the end of a 

 tunnel in banks. 



Range — Breeds from Newfound- 

 land, Keewatin, and Alaska south to 

 the Gulf of Mexico. " 



Suborder ALCYONES. Kingfishers 



Family ALCEDINID/E. Kingfishers 



BELTED KINGFISHERS are abundant throughout 

 our territory. Even in winter they go south only just 

 far enough to find open water in which to carry on tlieir 

 regular occupation as fisher-birds. Any well-stocked lake, 

 pond, river, or brook that does not have its one or more pairs 

 of kingfishers is an exception. They are quite noisy lairds 

 and usually make their presence known long before they are 

 seen, by their loud, rattling calls. 



They have several favorite lookout perches situated at 

 intervals about the edges of ponds, overhanging the water 

 usually between ten and fifteen feet up. They sit silently, 

 watchful until a fish passes below, near the surface; then on 

 half-opened wings, they glide swiftly down, the large bill 

 cleaves the water with little splash and, if successful they 

 return to the perch bearing the prize in the beak. Fish are 

 caught cross-wise of the bill and are carried that way, but 



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