(RINGED KINGFISHER.)
+Ceryle torquata+, _Scl. et Salv. Nomencl._ p. 103; _Barrows, Auk_
1884, p. 26 (Entrerios); _Sharpe, Mon. Alc._ pl. xxii. p. 73;
_Withington, Ibis_, 1888, p. 468 (Lomas de Zamora). +Megaceryle
torquata+, _Burm. La-Plata Reise_, ii. p. 446 (Paraná).
_Description._--Above bluish grey, with narrow black shaft-stripes
and some small round spots of white; wings black, with a large
portion of the inner webs towards the base white, coverts like the
back; tail black, crossed by white bars, central rectrices edged
with bluish grey: beneath chestnut-red; throat, centre of belly,
and crissum white: whole length 15·0 inches, wings 7·7, tail 5·5.
_Female_ similar, but with a broad bluish-grey pectoral band.
_Hab._ Central and South America.
This beautiful bird, the largest of the American Kingfishers, is found
throughout the greater portion of South and Central America. In the
Argentine Republic it is somewhat rare, though widely distributed,
and ranging as far south as Buenos Ayres. Dr. Döring mentions _Ceryle
torquata_ amongst the species collected by him on the Rio Negro, in
Patagonia; but it is possible that the closely allied _C. stellata_ is
meant, as this form represents the larger and more brightly-coloured
bird in the Magellanic district.
Notwithstanding its wide distribution and great beauty, little has been
recorded of the habits of this species. In Amazonia, Bartlett says:--"It
breeds in company with _Ceryle amazona_. The nest, however, is placed
very much deeper in the bank than in the case of the last-named bird,
the hole being from 4 to 6 feet in depth, with a chamber at the end
sufficiently large for the young birds when nearly full-grown."