62 STOJ^IES ABOUT BIRDS. 



neck and a very long bill. His tail is short, and — if we may use the word — 

 .stumpy. His feet are small and feeble ; the first toe shorter than the second, 

 and the third longer than the fourth. 



The bill is the weapon he uses to catch his prey, and we shall talk about 

 it presently. It is, as you see, much longer than the head, and is straight 

 ^nd rather slender, with a pointed tip. 



But his plumage is the most beautiful part of him, and what causes him 

 to be so much admired. The colours are very soft and blended, and }'et there 

 is a wonderful brilliance about them. The upper part of the head is a dull 

 green, and each feather has a bar of light greenish blue near the end, that 

 gives it a metallic look. The neck, the sides of the back, and the wings, are 

 of the same green, tinged with purple ; but the middle of the back is of a 

 lovely glossy blue, that shines and glistens in the sun ; while the tail is of 

 a duller hue. 



There is a band of yellowish red from the nostril to the eye, and behind 

 the eye is another band of the same colour. The throat is a yellowish white, 

 and the breast and lower part of the body are of the same yellow red, but of 

 a. richer tint. 



Thus gaily clad, the kingfisher, in a country where the birds dress very 

 soberly, shines as a conspicuous object. 



In his evcry-day life nothing can be more useful to him than his bill, 

 ■since he can catch fish with it for the benefit of his family. 



He is a famous fisher, and this is why he had made his nest and come to 

 live near the arbour by the pretty winding river. For on a clear still day it 

 was easy to see, not only the reflection of the clouds as they went sailing over 

 the sky, but to catch sight of a shoal of fishes gliding merrily about just 

 "beneath the surface. 



And in the hot drowsy noontide, when all was still, there would be 

 lieard distinctly the plash of the fish as it leaped up to catch a fly, or to 

 breathe the air. 



All these facts must have been well known to the kingfisher. 



The only difficulty was his extreme shyness and his dislike to be seen. 

 Yet he had chosen the most public place he could find. The arbour was a 

 mere shed supported by wooden posts, and quite open on the side nearest to 

 his hole. The hole was not more than a yard or two off. People sat and 

 -looked at it constantly. Not that anything could be seen, for the hole ran in 



