Kingfisher, Belted 



He is the most marked of the trillers, having a loud, 

 rapid call that Wilson compares to a watchman's rattle, 

 and that, as Mr. Burroughs ingeniously suggests, reminds 

 you of an alarm clock. 



Florence A. Merriam. Birds Through an Opera Glass.^ 



The kingfisher is singularly grotesque in his appearance, 

 though not without beauty of plumage. 



Flagg. a Year With the Birds.^^ 



Though the king of fishermen, this sensible bird does 

 not restrict himself to a diet of fish. In the east, if oppor- 

 tunity offers, he eats crustaceans, grasshoppers, crickets, 

 and beetles of the June bug family. 



Florence A. Merriam. Birds of Village and Field. ^ 



Among the negroes in the south it is believed that if, in 

 childhood, you go to the river at sunrise and see the min- 

 nows before the kingfisher does you will never die unless 

 you are drowned, and that if you are drowned the king- 

 fisher will carry your spirit directly to heaven. 



Men say thy back received its coat of blue, 



From skies unclouded when the Flood was done. 



Then caught thy breast its gorgeous tawny hue 

 In that long flight toward the setting sun. 



Selected. 



