98 
YERTEBEATA. 
among them the Belted Kingfisher, C. alcyon : this is a general inhabitant of the United 
States, and, with a single exception, is the only species known to this comitry. It is twelve 
inches long, of robust form, the upper parts and a belt across the breast light ashy-blue, beneath 
Avhite. On the head the feathers are often lifted into a crest. Wilson, in his happy vein, says : 
"Like the lovelorn sw^ains of whom the poets tell us, he delights in running streams and falling 
waters ; not, however, merely that they may soothe his ear, but for a gratification somewhat more 
substantial. Amid the roar of the cataract, or over the foam of a torrent, he sits perched upon 
an overhanging bough, glancing his piercing eye in every direction below for his scaly prey, 
which, with a sudden, circular plunge, he sweeps from their native element, and swallows in an 
instant. His voice, which is not unlike the twirling of a watchman's rattle, is naturally loud, 
harsh, and sudden, but is softened by the sound of the brawling streams and cascades among 
which he generally rambles. He courses along the windings of the brook or river, at a small 
height above the surface, sometimes suspending himself by the rapid action of his wings, like cer- 
tain species of hawks, ready to pounce on the fry below ; now and then settling on an old, dead 
overhanging limb to reconnoiter. Mill-dams are particularly visited by this feathered fisher, and 
the sound of his pipe is as well known to the miller as the rattling of his own hopper. Eapid 
streams, with high perpendicular banks, particularly if they be of a hard clayey or sandy nature, 
are also favorite places of resort for this bird ; not only because in such places the small fish are 
more exposed to view, but because those steep and dry banks are the chosen situations for his 
nest. Into these he digs with bill and claws horizontally, sometimes to the extent of four or five 
feet, at the distance of a foot or two from the surface. The few materials he takes in are not 
always placed at the extremity of the hole, that he and his mate may have room to turn with 
convenience. The eggs are five, pure white, and the first brood usually comes out about the be- 
ginning of June, and sometimes sooner, according to the part of the country where they reside. 
They are very tenacious of their haunts, breeding for several successive years in the same hole, 
and do not readily forsake it, even though it be visited." 
The Texan Green Kingfisher, C. Americana, is only about seven inches long, and is well 
known in South America ; it has been seen in Texas on the Eio Grande. Several other species of 
the genus are known in Mexico and South America. 
THE BLACK-BANDED DACELO. 
Genus DACELO : Dacelo. — This includes several species, found in various parts of the world, 
and called Martin Chasseur by the French ; they are noted for a large, heavy bill, and for feed- 
ing on earth-worms, larvae, and insects, instead offish. Their haunts are marshy and humid spots 
in forests. The Black-banded Dacelo, D. atricainlla, is a lai'ge species, found at the Cape of 
Good Hope. 
The Great Brown Kingfisher or Gigantic Dacelo, D. gigantea, is eighteen inches long; 
