P IC A R IM . A LC ED IN IDM . Ireland about the same time. The first was shot by Mr.
C e e y l e a l c y o n (Linnaeus*).
THE BELTED KINGFISHER.
Alcedo alcyon.
: Ceryle, F. BoieA. — B ill long, h a rd , str a ig h t and a cu te , w ith a lon g itu d in a l
groove on ea ch sid e o f th e cu lm en. N o str ils b asal, ob liq u e a n d n ea rly clo sed by
a bare m embrane. Head c r ested. W in g s m od era tely p o in ted , of ten prim a r ies ;
th e second and th ird n ea r ly equ a l and lo n g e s t, th e first shorter th a n th e fou r th .
T a il m oderate, o f tw e lv e re c tr ic e s. Tibi® bare b e low ; ta r s i s h o r t ; to e s th r e e
befo re, one b eh in d , th e m id d le u n ited to th e outer to e as far as th e second jo in t,
an d to th e in n e r as fa r a s th e first j o in t ; h in d to e mu ch shor ter th a n th e in n e r .
Two examples of this bird occurred, says Thompson (Ann.
Nat. Hist. xvi. p. 480, xYii. p. 69, and B. Irel. i. p. 378) in
* Alcedo alcyon, Linnaeus, S y st. N a t. E d. 1 2 , i. p . 1 8 0 (1 7 6 6 ).
f I s is , 1 8 2 8 , p. 3 1 6 .
F. A. Smith at Annsbrook in Meath, October 26th, 1845;
and the second, which was seen some days before November
20th of the same year by the gamekeeper of Mr. Latouche,
of Luggela in the county of Wicklow, was shortly afterwards
shot, according to Mr. Watters, by Mr. J. C. Campion.
This last came into the possession of the late Mr. T. W.
Warren, and was by him left to the Museum of Science and
Art in Dublin : the other, believed to have been a female,
was bought for that of Trinity College in the same capital.*
This Kingfisher, a native of North America, is not known
to have been elsewhere observed in Europe, and its claim to
be accounted a British Bird is so slight as to justify here
but a brief notice of it. That it should be able to cross the
Atlantic is not surprising, when its wide range in its owm
country and its long migratory flights are considered. Its
habits have been described at great length by American
ornithologists, and though some details given by Wilson,
Audubon and Nuttall have been recently disputed, yet the
general truth of their statements seems to be untouched,
while some of the discrepancies between their accounts and
those of later observers are explained by the often overlooked
fact that the habits of almost any bird vary more or less
according to season or locality. With certain differences, to
be presently noticed, the behaviour of this species is nearly
identical with that of our own. In summer it is found
throughout North America from the Atlantic to the Pacific,
and northwards to the shores of the Arctic Ocean, hardly a
river or creek, lake or pond being free from its presence. In
winter it is forced to the southwards, as the waters it
frequents are successively frozen, though even in New
England, to say nothing of parts of the Dominion of Canada,
a few seem to maintain their position, especially in open
seasons. . But towards autumn the majority unquestionably
* Mr. Morris, on th e in fo rm a tion o f Mr. G. Grantham, s ta te s th a t a th ird
afterw a rd s occurred to a frien d o f h is near B an try B a y , and also, though, w ith
some donh t, th a t a fou r th was sa id to h a v e b een obta in ed near D ub lin . In each
o f th e s e cases confirmation, b y some recognized au th o r ity , would be desirable
before acc ep tin g th e in fo rm a tion.