KINGFISHERS: BELTED KINGFISHER 
373 
KINGFISHERS, ETC.: Order Coraciiformes 
KINGFISHERS: Family Alcedinidae 
Subfamily Cerylinae 
The Kingfishers have long, strong bills grooved on the inside so that 
the sharp cutting edges have a firm grip on their prey; the tongue is 
rudimentary or very small, as the food is swallowed v^,**?*.*^^ 
whole, the indigestible parts being ejected later, and 
the throat is lined with downward propelling papillae. Fig. 66. Foot of 
The legs are short and the feet small, with the third Kingfisher 
and fourth toes coherent and the fourth toe rudimen¬ 
tary, being used only in perching, in shoving the earth out of the 
Fig. 67. The Mirrored Kingfisher 
burrows, and in sliding along the burrows. The plumage is compact 
and oily to resist water, into which they plunge after fish. 
BELTED KINGFISHER: Megaceryle ilcyon alcyon (Linnaeus) 
Description .— Length: 11-14.5 inches, wing 6-6.5, tail 3.S-4.3, bill 2 or more. 
Adult male: Heavy crest, upper par Is, chest band , and sides , bluish gray, with fine black 
shaft lines; tail with middle feathers gray like back, the rest black or slaty, with gray 
edgings and transverse white markings; wings, with primaries and their coverts, 
slate-black, the quills spotted or tipped with white; spots under and before eye, 
cci'vical collar , and underparts (except belt) white; iris dark brown, bill black (some¬ 
times paler basally), legs and feet livid slate. Adult female: Similar to adult male 
but with a broad belt across lower breast, together with sides, flanks, and axillars, 
cinnainon-rufous. Young male: Similar to adult male but chest band more or less 
tinged with brown. Young female: Like adult female but upper band largely rufous 
instead of mostly bluish gray. 
Range. —Breeds from northwestern Mackenzie, central Keewatin, northern 
Quebec, and Newfoundland south to southern border of United States; winters from 
British Columbia, Nebraska, Ohio, and Virginia south to West Indies, Colombia, and 
Guiana, irregularly north to Ontario. 
State Records. —Lack of suitable conditions make the Belted Kingfisher a 
rather rare bird in New Mexico during the summer; indeed there seems to be no 
record of the actual finding of the nest in the State. Most of the streams in the 
lower altitudes are too irregular in volume to furnish a sure food supply, so that it is 
From Handbook of Birds of the Western United States 
