. Birds of America;. Birds -- North America. KIX(^,FISHERS 135 sun, and ever afterwards its plumage showed the colors of the evening sky. Another lieauti- ful old fable is that Alcyone, daughter of -•I'^olus, grieved so deeply for her husband, who had been shipwrecked, that she threw herself into the sea, and was immediately changed into a Kingfisher, called ' Halcyon ' by the ancient Latin-sjieaking peojjle. " Pliny says: ' Halcyons lay and sit about mid- winter when daies be shortest; and the time whiles they are broodie is called the halcyon daies; for during that season the sea is cal
. Birds of America;. Birds -- North America. KIX(^,FISHERS 135 sun, and ever afterwards its plumage showed the colors of the evening sky. Another lieauti- ful old fable is that Alcyone, daughter of -•I'^olus, grieved so deeply for her husband, who had been shipwrecked, that she threw herself into the sea, and was immediately changed into a Kingfisher, called ' Halcyon ' by the ancient Latin-sjieaking peojjle. " Pliny says: ' Halcyons lay and sit about mid- winter when daies be shortest; and the time whiles they are broodie is called the halcyon daies; for during that season the sea is calm and navigable.' [The popular belief was that the seven days preceding the shortest day of the year were used in building the nest, and the seven days following were devoted to hatching the eggs. These fourteen days were called ' halcyon days.'] I'Aen now the adjective ' halcyon ' repre- sents calm and peaceful days devoted to pleasant outings in woods or fields or along ocean-beaches, or to i)addling u]) some quiet river, all the while learning to know the trees and wild flowers, and the songs and forms of ; George Gladden. TEXAS KINGFISHER Ceryle americana septentrionalis Sharpe A. O. U. Number 391. Other Name.— Green Kingfisher. General Description.— Length, 8 inches. Color above, green; below, white; males with a patch of chcstnut-rutous on the chest. No crest. Color.—Adult Male: Above, including sides of head (except cheeks), dark metallic bronze-green, darker and duller on crown, especially the forehead, interrupted by a white collar across hindneck; fore- head freckled with whitish; wing-coverts, usually immaculate, but sometimes with a few minute spots or streaks of white ; secondaries with a sub-basal narrow band of white, continuous across both webs, this white increasing in extent on inner secondaries where it involves the whole basal half; about midway between this band and tip of secondaries is another band, com- posed of small white s])Ot
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1920, bookidbirdsofameri, bookyear1923
