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THE BELTED KINGFISHER. 
sent to Europe, but in a mutilated state, the natives being in the habit of depriving it of 
its legs and wings before parting with the skin. The Paradise birds were long treated in the 
same manner, until the sportsmen learned that they could sell the entire bird at a better price 
than when it had been mutilated. 
In the birds which form the genus Ceyx there are only three toes, and one of them very 
strong, the tail is very short, and the bill straight, like that of the common Kingfisher of 
Europe. The reader must note that the word Ceyx is dissyllabic. 
The Tridactylous Kingfisher is a native of Java, Borneo, and the whole of the Indian 
Archipelago, and is said to have been discovered even upon the continent itself. Although a 
very little bird, it is one of the most brilliantly colored of the entire group, and hardly yields 
even to the gem-like humming-bird in the metallic and glittering color of its plumage. Even 
the united aid of pencil and brush can give but little idea of the extreme beauty of the coloring 
of this bird, for the glowing richness of the tints as they Hash and glitter with every move- 
ment of the bird and vary momentarily in hue and tone, is far beyond the power of art, and 
sets at nought the colors of the most skilful painter. 
The head of the Tridactylous Kingfisher, as well as the whole upper surface of the body, is 
a deep rich lilac, and the wings are stained with a most beautiful and singular mixture of 
deep blue and ultramarine, the centre of each feather being of the former tint, and the edges 
of the latter hue. The whole of the under surface is pure white, the feet are red, and the bill 
is a pale carmine. In its dimensions it is exceedingly small, being one-third less than the 
common Kingfisher of Europe. 
The interesting birds which are gathered into the genus Ceryle may be known by the 
thick, compressed, and sharply pointed beak, the comparatively long and rounded tail, and 
the length of the front inner toe. To this genus may be referred all the American species 
of this group, one of which, the Belted Kingfisher, forms the subject of the following 
description. 
The Belted Kingfisher is an inhabitant of many parts of America, and as it is in the habit 
of migrating northward or southward, according to the season of the year and the state of the 
temperature, it is a very familiar bird throughout the greater part of America, from Mexico to 
Hudson’s Bay. So common is it in these regions that, according to Wilson, “ mill-dams are 
periodically visited by this feathered fisher, and the sound of his pipe is as well known to the 
miller as the sound of his own hopper.” 
The sight of the Belted Kingfisher is singularly keen, and even when passing with its 
meteor-like flight over the country, it will suddenly check itself in mid career, hovering over 
the spot for a short time, watching the finny inhabitants of the brook as they swim to and fro, 
and then with a curious spiral kind of plunge will dart into the water, driving up the spray in 
every direction, and after a brief struggle will emerge with a small fish in its mouth, which it 
bears to some convenient resting-place, and after battering its prey with a few hearty thumps 
against a stump or a stone, swallows it, and returns for another victim. Waterfalls, rapids, 
or “lashers” are the favored haunts of the Belted Kingfisher, whose piercing eye is able to 
discern the prey even through the turmoil of dirty water, and whose unerring aim fails not to 
seize and secure the unsuspecting victims, in spite of their active fins and slippery scale- 
covered bodies. 
“Rapid streams,” says Wilson, “with high perpendicular banks, particularly if they be 
of a hard, clayey, or sandy mixture, are also the 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 situation of his nest.” 
In these banks the Belted Kingfisher digs a tunnel, which often extends to the length 
of four or five feet, employing both beak and claws in the work. The nest is of a very simple 
nature, being composed of a few small twigs and feathers, on which are laid the four or five 
pure white eggs. The birds seem to be much attached to their homes, and the same pair will 
