KINGFISHER, Alcedo, a genus of birds of the order insessores and family halcyonidct. The name is often extended to the whole family; the only British and almost the only European species of which is the common kingfisher (A. ispida), a bird not much larger than a sparrow, in brilliancy of color rivaling the finest tropical birds—blue and green being the prevailing colors. -The kingfisher is generally distributed over Britain and Ireland, but is not so common in Scotland. It is not a bird of passage, although in many places it appears only as an occasional visitant. It is found in all parts of Europe except the most northern, and over a great part of Asia and Africa. It frequents the banks of rivers and streams, and is often seen flying near the surface sf the water. Its food consists of small fishes, such as minnows, sticklebacks, and trout or salmon fry, and of leeches and water-insects. When it has caught a fish it often kills it by beating on a branch, and always swallows it head foremost. The indigestible parts are after- wards disgorged.
It seems probable, although not quite certain, that the kingfisher is the halcyon of the ancients, about which many wonderful fables were current among them: of its having power to quell storms, of its floating nest, and the stillness of the winds during the time necessary for its safety, etc. Shakespeare makes repeated allusion to the popular notion
that if the stuffed skin of a kingfisher or halcyon is hung up by a thread, the bill will always point to the direction from which the wind blows.
The BELTED KINGFISHER (alcedo halcyon or ceryle halcyon) of North America is a much larger bird than the kingfisher of Britain. being fully 12 in. in length. It is com mon on most of the rivers of North America to 67° n. lat. in summer, but migrates southward in winter, and is then to be found in the West Indies. Its colors are dull when compared with those of the common kingfisher.
Many species of kingfisher are found in the warmer parts of the world. Some of them, forming the genus ceyx, want the hind toe. The common European kingfisher may be regarded as the type of the family, which belongs to the group called syndactyle birds, and is characterized by the much-united toes. The form is bulky; bill long, straight, quadrangular, sharp and heron-like; wings, tail, and legs short, and feet small.