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ALCYONES. 



Family ALCEDINID^. (Bonaparte.) 

 Genus Alcedo. ( ' Linnceus.J 



Generic Characters. — Beak long, straight, quadrangular, 

 pointed, sharp edged, and very rarely depressed. Nostrils 

 basal, lateral, obliquely pierced, and almost entirely closed by 

 a naked membrane. Feet short, naked above the knee; three 

 toes in front, the exterior of which is joined to the middle 

 toe as far as the second articulation, and this with the inside 

 toe as far as the first articulation. Hind toe broad at its 

 base, and its claw the smallest. First and second wing 

 primaries shorter than the third, which is the longest in the 

 wing. 



BLACK-AND-WHITE KINGFISHEE. 



Alcedo rudis. 



Alcedo rudis, Linnjeus. 



" ispida ex alio et nigra varia, Bhisson. 



" ispida bicinia et bitorquale, Swainson. 



" cerylevaria, Strickland. 



Ceryle rudis, Boie. Bonaparte. 



Marti n-pechear pie, Oe the French. 



GescMclcter Eisvogel, Of the Germans. 



Specific Characters. — Feathers of the occiput long and pointed; 

 tail with a broad black band, tipped with white at its end; a 

 broad black band across the crop, interrupted in the middle. 

 Length from tip of beak to end of tail eleven inches and a half; 



