. A manual of the ornithology of the United States and of Canada : the land birds . olly closed by a naked r. very shorl and fleshy. Feet short and robust, tarsus shorterthan the middle toe, which is nearly equal to the outer: inner toerarely wanting, hind toe wide at the base ; nail of the hind toesmallest. Wings rather short, 1st and \!d primaries a little shorterthan the third, which is Long 71- These are shy, solitary, and abstemious birds, feeding on insects,and diminutive aquatic animals, but principally on small fish, for whichthey assiduously watch while perc
. A manual of the ornithology of the United States and of Canada : the land birds . olly closed by a naked r. very shorl and fleshy. Feet short and robust, tarsus shorterthan the middle toe, which is nearly equal to the outer: inner toerarely wanting, hind toe wide at the base ; nail of the hind toesmallest. Wings rather short, 1st and \!d primaries a little shorterthan the third, which is Long 71- These are shy, solitary, and abstemious birds, feeding on insects,and diminutive aquatic animals, but principally on small fish, for whichthey assiduously watch while perched on some projecting stake orbough impending over the water ; these they dexterously catch andswallow whole, at length casting up the scales, bones, and indigestibleparts in the form of pellets. They fly for short distances with con-siderable celerity, skimming directly over the surface of the land orwater. — Species are spread over the whole globe, but they aboundmost in warm climates. In the United States, as in Europe, there isbut a solitary peculiar race in each BELTED KING-FISHER. (Alcedo Alcyon, L. Wilson, iii. p. 59. pi. 23. fig. 1. Aun. Orn. Biog. 394 pi. 77. Ccnjh Alcjon, Boie. Bonap. Birds, &c. p. Museum, No. 2J45.) Spec. Charact. — Crested; bluish slate-color; breast with a bluishband ; a spot on either side of the eyes, with a large collar roundthe neck, as well as the vent, white. — Female, with sides, and anadditional belt on the breast, ferruginous. BELTED KING-FISHER. 719 This wild and grotesque looking feathered angler is awell known inhabitant of the borders of fresh waters fromthe remote fur countries in the 6?th parallel to the tropics ;westward he is also seen along the streams of Oregon andthe rivulets of the Rocky Mountains, thus occupying ap-parently the whole northern continent of America in itswidest dimensions. His delight is to dwell amidst themost sequestered scenes of uncultivated nature, by theborders of running riv
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