





HALCYONIDjE. 







339 









Dimensions 

 Of the female. 









Length, total 

 „ of tail 

 „ of wing 

 ,, of bill above 



Inch. 

 10 



5 

 . 8 







Lin, 

 6 

 

 

 3 



Inch. 

 Length of bill to rictus . 

 ,, of tarsus . .0 

 ,, of middle toe • . 



Lin. 

 11 



C 



8 



Length of middle nail 

 „ of hind toe . 

 ,, of hind nail . 



Incb. Lin. 



. 2i 



2 



. o 14 



[121.] 1. Alcedo alcyon. (Linn.) Belted Kingfisher. 



Family, Haleyonidae ; Sub-family, Halcyoninse, Swains. Genus, Alcedo, Linn. 



Belted Kingfisher. Penn. Arct. Zool., ii., p. 273, No. 169. 



Alcedo alcyon. Lath. Syn., i., p. 257, sp. 32. 



Belted Kingfisher {Alcedo alcyon). Wils., iii., p. 59, pi. 23, f. 1. 



Alcedo alcyon. Sab. Frankl. Journ., p. C77- Bonap. Syn., No. 47. 



Okees-kee-mannaeshew. Cree Indians. 



This King-fisher, the only one that inhabits North America, frequents all the 

 large rivers in the fur-countries up to the 67th degree of latitude, being more 

 common, however, in the interior than near the sea-coast. It is a solitary 

 bird, and is generally observed sitting on the stump of a tree that projects over 

 the river. On the approach of a canoe, it flits onwards a few hundred yards 

 to another perch, and will thus continue to precede a party of voyagers for 

 several miles, readily suffering them, however, to come within gunshot before it 

 quits its station. It has a harsh, clicking voice. Its food consists of small fishes, 

 which it swallows whole, and, after digesting the soft parts, rejects the scales 

 by the mouth. About the middle of May, when the rivers in the fifty-fourth 

 parallel break up, it appears on the banks of the Saskatchewan, and by the middle 

 of June it has attained its utmost northern limits. It departs southwards in 

 September, to winter iu Georgia, the Floridas, and even in the West India 



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