io6 BOMBAY DUCKS 



" Lizards, shrimps, and grasshoppers are greedily ac- 

 cepted as dainty morsels by this bird. Although I 

 have had the bird about nine months, yet I have never 

 seen it drink. Its meat and fish are always placed in a 

 jar containing three or four inches of water, into which 

 it plunges its massive beak to take out its food. I might 

 also add that the bird sometimes immerses its beak in 

 the water, instantly withdrawing it with a shake of the 

 head, even when not feeding." Mr. Harper adds, " the 

 average weight of food eaten in one day is i ^ ounces, 

 or equivalent to about twenty-one minnows." 



The third kind of kingfisher found in Madras is the 

 pied one — Ceryle varia. The plumage of this bird is 

 black and white, and has been aptly compared to that 

 of a silver-spangled Hamburg fowl. This species is the 

 finest fisherman of all. It looks for its prey, not while 

 sitting on a perch as most kingfishers do, but while 

 hovering over the water, and dropping into it like a 

 stone when it espies its quarry. This bird has very 

 powerful pinions, and will spend long periods on the 

 wing without resting on terra firma. Now it hovers 

 with rapidly vibrating wings high above the surface of 

 the water, then it dashes off to a considerable distance, 

 and again hovers ; next it makes as if to dive ; it drops, 

 but suddenly checks itself, and flies off with a twittering 

 scream, to hover again over another part of the water ; 

 perhaps this time it espies a likely fish and drops into 

 the water, completely disappears for a moment, then 

 emerges with its victim. 



Some observers declare that this bird never dives 

 without catching a fish. This I cannot believe. I have 



