BIRDS OP PENNSYLVANIA. 121 



in color than those of the Yellow-billed Cuckoo. Both species, ac- 

 cording to my observation, always build their own nests, and never, 

 like the Cow Bunting, deposit their eggs in the nests of other birds. 

 The Rain-Crows are extremely cowardly, and if attacked by any of 

 their feathered neighbors, whose nests they sometimes pillage, they 

 immediately fly off and conceal themselves in the dusky retreats of a 

 tree or bush. In relation to this bird, Audubon says: "The flight of 

 this species is swifter than that of its near relative, the Yellow-billed 

 Cuckoo, for which bird it is easily mistaken by ordinary observers. 

 It does not so much frequent the interior of woods, but appears along 

 their margins, on the edges of creeks and damp places. But the most 

 remarkable distinction between this species and the Yellow billed 

 Cuckoo is, that the former, instead of feeding principally on insects 

 and fruits, procures fresh-water shell-fish and aquatic larvae for its 

 sustenance. It is, therefore, more frequently seen on the ground, near 

 the edges of the water, or descending along the drooping branches of 

 trees to their extremities, to seize the insects in the water beneath 

 them." In the adult plumage the Yellow-billed and the Black- billed 

 Cuckoos, when flying, can be distinguished, if you bear in mind that 

 in the former the long tail feathers, with large white tips, are very 

 conspicuous; on the other hand, the white tips on the tail feathers of 

 the Black-billed are not well marked. This bird, as well as the Yellow- 

 billed Cuckoo, I have observed, subsists largely on the tent caterpil- 

 lars, which are so numerous at times on our various fruit and shade 

 trees. It also feeds on beetles, grasshoppers, snails and earth-worms. 

 According to Mr. Gentry, " its vegetable food is chiefly the seeds of 

 grasses, and the berries of Juniperus Virginiana" 



SUBORDER ALCYOi^ES. KINGFISHERS. 

 FAMILY ALCEDINID/E. KINGFISHERS. 



GENUS CERYLE. BOIE. 

 390. Ceryle alcyon (LiNN.). 



Belted Kingfisher. 



(Plate SO.) 



"Length about 13 inches ; extent of wings about 22 inches. 

 Hab. North America, south to Panama and the West Indies. 



Kingfishers are common residents along our rivers, streams and 

 ponds, about which they are found at all seasons, unless forced to mi- 

 grate southward by excessively cold weather. The loud and harsh 

 cry of this bird, as Wilson has properly stated, is not unlike the noise 

 made by twirling a watchman's rattle. a It is uttered while moving 



