OF SOUTHERN AUSTRALIA. 129 



Essentially a hot- weather bird, it migrates from Victoria as the 

 winter advances, remaining, however, throughout the year in 

 the warmer districts of New South Wales and South Australia. 



The clear, sharp, penetrating cry of the Sacred Kingfisher 

 can invariably be heard by those passing through timbered 

 lands, more especially should the intruder approach near its 

 nest, when its angry demonstrations and fierce chatter 

 often betray its whereabouts. Should one bird be sitting at 

 the time, its mate will persistently attack the supposed enemy 

 until the latter has retired to a safe distance from the hollow 

 tree or creek bank wherein the nest has been placed. 



The task of raising the family commences in October and 

 concludes with a second brood in December. 



It was believed by the ancients, and even by that famous 

 old ornithologist Aristotle, that the Kingfisher is a breeder 

 by the sea coast. In midwinter, he states, the birds gather 

 in the rocky islets of the Grecian Seas to build their nests 

 and bring out their young. For 14 days only they remain, 

 their presence producing a calm sea during this period. " On 

 the seventh day after the longest day the birds pass away." 



Naturally, with our present knowledge of bird-life, and the 

 time necessary for the rearing of the young, we cannot accept 

 this fable of Aristotle as a scientific fact. Probably the birds 

 were migrating for the winter months, their path of migration 

 lying through the Grecian islands, which afforded a suitable 

 resting place prior to crossing the Mediterranean into Africa. 

 Aristotle possessed the half-truth only — hence his attempt to 

 fill in the detail by the invention of a poetic fable. 



Nest, — A hollow of a tree, or creek bank, with a small 

 entrance ; decayed wood is used in the first case as a floor for 

 the eggs. 



Eggs. — Four or five to a sitting ; pearly white, and nearlv 

 round. Length, 1 inch ; breadth, 0.9 inch. 



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