52 



ALCEDO. KINGFISHER. 



Generic Character. 



nostrum trigonum, crassum, ! 



rectum, longum. 

 Lingua carnosa, brevissima, 



plana, acuta. 

 Pedes gressorii plerisque. 



Bill trigonal, thick, strait, 

 long. 



Tongue fleshy, very short, 

 flat, sharp-pointed. 



Feet, (in naost species) gres- 

 sorial. 



X HIS numerous genus appears to be dispersed 

 over all parts of tke Old and New Continent, as 

 well as over the larger islands of both ; but it is 

 remarkable that one species alone is found in 

 Europe. The Kingfishers in general are birds of 

 an inelegant shape, but of singular brilliancy of 

 plumage, in which the prevailing colours are blue, 

 green, and orange. Some of the larger species 

 however are of rather obscure colours, exhibiting 

 a mixture of brown, black, and white, variously 

 modified in the different birds. In their manners 

 they all seem to agree, frequenting rivers, sea- 

 shores, and other watery places, and feeding prin- 

 cipally on fish, which they watch, while sitting on 

 the branches or other objects overhanging the 

 water, and suddenly springing on their prey, 

 snatch it out of the water, and after bruising it 

 by repeated strokes of their bill, immediately 

 swallow it. They deposit their eggs in cavities 

 formed in the banks of rivers, and, in general, are 



