1921.] On the Kconomic Status of the Kingfisher. 139 



Tringa ochropus L. 



A Hock of five birds were seen on 2 July near (Jandin, out 

 oE which a pair were shot. They were in complete l)reeding 

 plumage, were very fat, and showed no signs o£ having bred. 



Larus argentatus cachiiuuDis was common off the coast 

 near Candia, and had bred in a large colony on Paximadi 

 Island ; a young bird was found in the nest, but all the rest 

 were on the wing. 



Fufimis piijfinus yeJkouan and Procellaria jielagica were 

 common at sea off eastern Crete throughout June, but I 

 could not locate any breeding quarters. 



VII. — On the Economic Status of the Kingfisher, Alcedo 

 ispida Linn. By Walter E. Collinge^ D.Sc, F.L.S., 

 M.B.O.U. 



(Text-figure 2.) 



I. Introduction. 



The brilliant external colouring of the Kingfislier [Alcedo 

 ispida Linn.) makes it one of the most beautiful birds we have 

 in this country, in consequence of which Yarrell (10) states, 

 it is " so much sought after by tlie idle and thoughtless that 

 its numbers, probably iiever very great in any part of the 

 country, have of late years very sensibly decreased .... 

 but the most constant persecution the species undergoes 

 arises rather from the deliglit .... so many people take in 

 possessing its stuffed skin ; . . . . and to this end more 

 Kingfishers are probably shot or netted for English bird- 

 stuft'ers than any other species.'^ Although this statement 

 Avas made nearly fifty years ago, it is equally true to-day. 

 So recently as 1891 Mr. A. H. Cocks (2) reported that a 

 local bird-stuffer had nearly a hundred Kingfishers sent to 

 him to set up that year. 



Further, as a frequenter of streams, brooks, and rivers, 

 this bird has generally been regarded as injurious to fish- 

 culture, and consequently has been ruthlessly shot. 



