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The Belted Kingfisher 
Here five to eight eggs are laid, early in May, and the young hatch 
ordinarily about June i. The eggs are pure white, as is the rule for 
eggs laid in dark cavities; and as the nestlings will be protected from 
cold, heat, and storms, little or no bedding is needed or provided. In 
old burrows fish-bones and scales may be found, but these are merely 
the remains of feasts. If the birds are not disturbed, a burrow may 
be used for several successive seasons. 
The young are naked and helpless when hatched, for their eyes have 
not yet opened. They grow very slowly. 
Kingfishers subsist themselves and feed their young principally on 
small fish, not over three inches in length, which are of little or no 
value ; therefore they do no harm except occasionally to fish cultivated 
in ponds, as young trout or bass, where sometimes Kingfishers are 
troublesome to the fish-culturists ; but the birds may usually be driven 
away. They also eat crustaceans, grasshoppers, beetles, crickets, frogs, 
and the like, and have been known to catch field-mice. 
The Kingfisher is migratory in the northern part of the country, 
that is, wherever the freezing of rivers and ponds may 
Flight and interrupt its fishing. Audubon refers to this in his 
biography of the species in the following words: 
‘‘The flight of this bird,” he remarks, “is rapid, and is prolonged 
according to its necessities, extending at times to considerable distances, 
in which case it is performed high in the air. When, for instance, the 
whole course of one of our northern rivers becomes frozen, the King- 
fisher, instead of skimming closely over the surface that no longer 
allows it to supply itself with food, passes high above the tallest trees, 
and takes advantage of every short cut which the situation of the river 
affords. By this means it soon reaches a milder climate. This is also 
frequently the case when it seems tired of the kind of fish that occurs 
in a lake, and removes to another in a direct line, passing over the 
forest, not un frequently by a course of twenty or thirty miles towards 
the interior of the country. Its motions when on wing consist of a 
series of flaps, about five or six in number, followed by a direct glide, 
without any apparent undulation. It moves in the same way when 
flying closely over the water.” 
Classification and Distribution 
The Belted Kingfisher belongs to the Order Coccyges, Suborder Alcyones, and 
Family Alcedinidce. Its scientific name is Cerylc alcyon. It breeds in North 
America from Alaska, northern Quebec, and Newfoundland, to the southern 
border of the United States; and it winters from the central part of the Union to 
northern South America. 
This and other Educational Leaflets are for sale, at 5 cents each, by the National Association of 
Audubon Societies, 1974 Broadway, New York City. Lists given on request. 
