Feb. 1,1 SCO.] 



SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



27 



gent, persistent odour of rotten fish clings to the 

 birds, their tunnel, and everything about it. One 

 hole I dug into was twelve feet from the entrance 

 to where the eggs were resting on the bare earth ; 

 these were ten in number, snowy white, and looked 

 as if hewn from alabaster. The voice of this bird 

 is most discordant, and often startling : wandering 

 up some lone ravine, or round the rocky shore of a 

 mountain lake, the piercing notes of three or four 

 startled Kingfishers, as they dash past, with their 

 crests erect, scolding angrily at the disturbance, 

 make one think Indians, spirits, or bogies of some 

 kind are upon him. It is not a shriek, nor a whistle, 

 nor a hoot, neither is it analogous to any other sound 

 made by birds and beasts in general ; but is more 

 like the noise of a chain running through a hawse- 

 hole, than anything else I know of. As the birds settle 

 again quietly on a jutting point of rock, watch them : 

 motionless as if marble-birds they sit, every eye 

 peering into the still water ; one makes a sudden 

 plunge, and ere the drops splashed into the air have 

 time to fall, the fisher sits again upon the rock, with 

 a struggling fish nipped by the powerful beak, as a 

 steel-trap holds a beaver's leg. Wide as its mouth 

 is, it cannot bolt a decent-sized fish crosswise ; to 

 loose the pincers would, in all probability, let the 

 slippery captive escape. To avoid any risk, the 

 crafty bird beats the head of the fish violently on the 

 rock until there is not a flap left in it. Elevating 

 its beak, three or four skilful jerks twist the fish, 

 head first, then a gulp sucks it down a throat scale 

 and fin proof. These birds never appear to be the 

 least wet on emergence from the water, yet the 

 feathers are not like those of the Water-rail, Dipper, 

 or smooth-backed Duck, and its oil gland. I could 

 never discover any secretion enabling Kingfishers 

 to resist wet. I suppose it is the rapidity with 

 which they dash in and out of the water that keeps 

 them dry. They cannot swim or walk under water 

 like the Dipper. 



At Vancouver Island they frequent the sea-coast 

 in great numbers. As the tide creeping off the 

 rocks leaves the weedy pools stocked with captives, 

 Kingfishers come from all directions to feast upon 

 them ; scorning to plunge into the briny water, 

 they thrust their horny forceps under the sea-tangle 

 and blubber, or rock, dragging out the soft-bodied 

 hiders. Often have I watched these pool-hunters ; 

 anon one discovers a five-rayed "star-fish" ; despite 

 the clutches made at every available mooring, the 

 sucker-armed preyer on bi-valves is dragged upon 

 the rocks, then thumped and battered until every ray, 

 flabby, powerless, and smashed, becomes a dainty 

 feast, enjoyed and swallowed at the captor's leisure. 

 Soft holothuria, chitons, crabs, and annelides share 

 a like fate. Surely sea-faring Kingfishers banquet 

 right royally on viands, that are turtle and white- 

 bait compared with the small fish dinners of settlers 

 inland. 



The strong feet, armed with powerful hook-like 

 claws, are well fitted for clinging to the slippery sides 

 of rock-basins, and are also used, in nesting time, 

 to hold on at the side of the hole, or, gripping the 

 inequalities of the sand-bank, stick against it as 

 do cliff-swallows (//. Luj/ifrous), or sand-martins 

 (77. Riparia). 



Has any one observed the English Kingfisher 

 feeding on the rocks as does its American brother ? 

 Some readers of Science - Gossip can perhaps 

 inform me. 



The heads of both male and female Belted King- 

 fishers are crested. The feathers composing this 

 head-dress can be erected and spread over the eyes 

 like a sunshade ; and this, I believe, is its real use. 

 I am led to think so from watching the birds during 

 the hot summer (for weeks at a stretch) when hunt- 

 ing and trapping in the Far North- West. 



When undisturbed, and gazing intently into the 



water, should the sun shine brightly, the crest is 



invariably spread, and the feathers thus erected seem 



as if intended to intercept the sun-rays that would 



otherwise dazzle the eyes and produce confused 



vision, just as we are prone to place our hands over 



our eyes if looking at any object in the sunshine. 



Many strange appendages to the plumage of birds, 



that we suppose merely decorative, I am disposed 



to think have some direct use that we should find out 



if opportunity were afforded, to watch their habits 



closely. I may be wrong in my ideas as to the use 



of the Kingfisher's crest ; and it may be asked why 



this Kingfisher has so large a crest, whilst others 



have not any, or too small to be of use as sun-shades. 



I answer by asking another question. Why has the 



skunk a horridly fetid secretion, and the pine-martin, 



fisher, and mink, none at all ?— they live the same, 



feed alike, and have similar enemies. I know it is 



so, but cannot tell why. 



J. K. Lokd, F.Z.S. 



WINGS OF BRITISH BUTTERFLIES. 



THE wings of moths and butterflies, as is well 

 known, form interesting objects for examination 

 with the microscope, but it often happens, that for 

 want of a hint or two as to the choice of suitable 

 specimens and the best mode of mounting them 

 when obtained, many cabinets are destitute of ex- 

 amples worthy of the appellation good. Yet there 

 is no real difficulty in the procuring of such slides as, 

 while they show the infinite skill and beneficence of 

 the Divine Creator, will likewise, simply as exam- 

 ples of harmonious colouring, provoke on their 

 exhibition the warmest admiration. 



The consideration of foreign Lepidoptera is in the 

 present paper waived. The few remarks about to 

 be made are intended for those who wish to 

 study the wondrous beauty displayed by our 

 native butterflies and moths, and secure from them 



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