C. unicolor. Jard. et Selby, Illust. Ornith. pl. 83.
I obtained a specimen of this bird from St. Jago, Cape de Verd Islands. (September).
It more resembled a swallow than a swift in the manner of its flight. I only saw a few of them. Insects occur so scantily over the bare and parched plains of basaltic lava, which compose the lower parts of the island of St. Jago, that it is surprising how these birds are able to find the means of subsistence.
Family.—HALCYONIDÆ.
Halcyon erythrorhyncha, Gould, Proc. Zool. Soc. 1837.
Alcedo Senegalensis var. β, Lath.
In January, during the first visit of the Beagle to St. Jago, in the Cape de Verd Islands, these birds were numerous. But in our homeward voyage, in the beginning of September, I did not see a single individual. As Mr. Gould informs me it is an African species; it is probably only a winter visitant to this archipelago. It lives in numbers in the arid valleys in the neighbourhood of Porto Praya, where it may be generally seen perched on the branch of the castor oil plant. I opened the stomachs of several, and found them filled with the wing cases of Orthopterous insects, the constant inhabitants of all sterile countries; and in the craw of one there was part of a lizard. It is tame and solitary; its flight is not swift and direct like that of the European kingfisher. In these respects, and especially in its abundance in dry rocky valleys where there is not a drop of water, it differs widely from the habits of the allied genus Alcedo; although certainly it abounded more in those valleys where streamlets occurred. This Halcyon was the only brilliantly coloured bird which I saw on the island of St. Jago.
1. Ceryle Americana. Boie.
Alcedo Americana, Gmel.
This Kingfisher is common on the banks of the Parana. It frequents the borders of lakes and rivers, and sitting on the branch of a tree, or on a stone, it thence takes short flights, and dashes into the water to secure its prey. Its manner of flying is neither direct nor rapid, which character is so remarkable in the flight of the European species; but it is weak and undulatory, and resembles that of the soft-billed birds. It often arrests itself suddenly in its course, and hovers over the surface of the water, preparatory to darting on some small fish. When seated on a twig it constantly elevates and depresses its tail; and as might have been expected from its figure, it does not sit in the stiff upright position so peculiar to the European Kingfisher. Its note is not unfrequently uttered: it is low, and like the clicking together of two small stones. I was informed that it builds in trees. The internal coating of the stomach is of a fine orange colour. Mr. Gould has seen specimens of this bird from Mexico; it enjoys, therefore, a very wide range.