198 
KINGFISHERS 
FAMILY ALCEDINIDiE : KINGFISHERS. 
GENUS CERYLE. 
General Characters. — Head with occipital crest; bill longer than head, 
stout, acute ; wings long and pointed ; tail much shorter than wing ; tarsus 
only about half as long as middle toe. 
KEY TO SPECIES. 
1. Upper parts bluish gray. 
2. Belly white.alcyon, p. 198. 
2'. Belly rufous. torquata, p. 199. 
1'. Upper parts metallic bottle green . . . . septentrionalis, p. 199. 
300. Ceryle alcyon (Linn.). Belted Kingfisher. 
Adult male. —Under parts white, with blue gray belt across breast; 
crest and upper parts bluish gray; nuchal collar white; wing quills black, 
Fig. 260. 
marked with white ; tail with middle feathers bluish gray, the rest black, 
spotted with white. Adult female : similar, but belly partly banded and 
sides heavily washed with rufous. Young : like adults, but male with 
breast band and sides tinged with rusty. Length : 11.00-14.50, wing 6.00- 
6.50, tail 3.80-4.30, bill 2 or more. 
Distribution. — North America from the Arctic Ocean south to Panama 
and the West Indies. Breeds from the southern border of the United 
States northward ; accidental at the Hawaiian Islands. 
Nest. — A burrow 4 to 15 feet long, in railroad cuts or perpendicular 
banks over water. Eggs: usually 5 to 8, white. 
Food. — Fish, and when not obtainable frogs, lizards, Crustacea, and 
insects such as coleoptera, grasshoppers, and large black crickets. 
So long as the fishing is good the kingfisher is equally at home in 
Maine, southern Texas, or the Yosemite, but in the Sierra Nevada 
mountains the brown streams polluted by placer mining have no 
attraction for him, and when you hear his rattle as you ride through 
the forest you may know that near by you will find a clear mountain 
brook where you may quench your thirst. 
What rare spots the birds recall! They are associated with the 
