XTGnTJAES AJfD KII^GriSIIEES. 
11 
presented to the rays of light. They are mostly 
natives of the warmer climates of the New AYorld; 
one species only, Alcedo ispida, is indigenous to 
Britain. 
They procure their food in a manner somewhat 
different to that of the Goatsuckers, Swallows, and 
Bee-eaters : let us then examine some of the pecu- 
liarities of structure by which they are adapted to 
their mode of obtainins^ food. 
The feet, not being required for any other purpose 
but to rest the body, are very small, and the toes 
appear but imperfectly developed ; there are generally 
three in front and one behind, but two of the former 
might be reckoned only as one, since they are united 
together even to the commencement of their respective 
claws ; the inner toe is not half the length of the 
others, and seems rudimentary ; it has a claw, and is 
rather more detached at its tip than the other two ; 
in some, as in the three-toed Kingfishers, this inner 
toe disappears. The hinder toe (which is brought 
forward in the cut, to show its comparative length) 
is very short, and scarcely larger than the inner one ; 
the scales of the whole foot are so thin and trans- 
parent, that they can scarcely be seen in the small 
species by the naked eye. Those who have seen much 
of the true Kingfishers, so scarce in England, but so 
common in tropical America, know that they never 
perch upon any other than small and slender branches, 
and this we might infer from the shape of the foot. 
The two outer anterior toes are very long, so that 
they would completely clasp two-thirds of the circum- 
ference of a small branch, the other third being em- 
