KINGFISHER. A widely used name for the non-passerine birds of the family Aleedinidte, characterized by the curious syndaetyl feet, the outer and middle toes tieing coherent for half their length. In addition to this peculiarity. the kingfishers have large. straight bills, with deep gape; the tongue is very small or rudimentary; the nostrils are basal: the Hirsi are very short and the tibhe are naked below. The family is very well defined and is related to the hornbills (Bueerotithr). in their manners and breeding habits, there is a remarkable uniformity among the kingfishers. All are rather solitary birds. They sit motionless while watching for prey, and seize it, when discovered, by a quick, vigorous rush. and then return to their post to swallow it at leisure. All breed in holes and lay smooth, white. more or less spherical eggs. The family includes something like 150 species, the geograph ical distribution of which is unusually peculiar and interesting. Only six, or perhaps eight. spe
cies occur in all of America. and these all belong to a single genus (Ceryle), which also occurs in the warmer parts of the Old World. The Papuan region is the centre of abundance for the family, having thirteen genera, of which eight are endemic. From that centre, the family fades away in all directions, Australia having four genera, the Oriental region six, and the Ethiopian region six. The kingfishers fall very naturally into two subfamilies, though the differenees be tween them are more in habits than in structure; the Daeelonimr are insectivorous and reptile eat ing birds with a depressed bill, and the Aleedi nime are the true kingfishers, living very largely on fish and having a emnpressed bill.