KINGFISHERS 
KINGFISHERS. Family ALCEDINID^E 
390 . Belted Kingfisher. Ceryle alcyon. 
Range. — Whole of North America, breeding 
from southern United States, northward and 
wintering from the southern parts of its breed- 
ing range, southward. 
This well known bird is abundant in all lo- 
calities near water, where its rattling notes are 
among the most familiar of sounds. Their food 
is almost entirely of small fish, which they 
catch by plunging upon from their perch on an 
old dead limb over- 
hanging the water, 
or by hovering in 
the air like an Os- 
prey. Their nests 
are located at the 
end of burrows in 
sand banks or the 
banks of creeks and 
rivers. These tun- 
nels, which are dug 
by the birds, gener- 
ally commence two or three feet from the top 
of the bank and extend back from six to eight 
feet, either in a straight line or curved; the end is enlarged to form a suitable 
nesting place, in which from five to eight eggs are laid. They are glossy and 
pure white in color. Size 1.35 x 1.05. Data. — Lake Quinsigamond, Massa- 
chusetts, June 6, 1900. 7 eggs at the end of a 6 foot tunnel in a sand bank. Bird 
removed by hand from the nest. Collector, C. E. Howe. 
White 
Belted Kingfisher 
[ 390 . 1 .] Ringed Kingfisher. Ceryle torquata. 
Range. — Mexico, north casually to the Lower Rio Grande Valley in Texas. 
This handsome species is much larger than the Belted Kingfisher and the 
underparts are nearly all bright chestnut, except the white throat. They nest in 
river banks the same as the common American species, and the eggs are white, 
but larger. Size 1.45 x 1.10. 
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