NATURAL HISTORY OF SOUTH AFRICA 



abuiuianco o\ insects in those localities. When not persecuted 

 they make their home in plantations, orchards, and in the trees 

 around the homestead, and render excellent service by preying 

 on grasshoppers and other forms of destructive insect life. The 

 nest is at the end of a hole, which the birds tunnel into a bank. 

 The hole is often 3 to 4 ft. deep with a chamber at the end, 

 where 4 white eggs are laid. The eggs, when fresh, ha\e a 

 pinkish tini:;e, owin^:; to the yolk showing; through the fragile 

 shell. The nesting season is in October and November. 



Giant Kingfisher ^Crry/t^ }>u7xh?ui\ (Vol II., p. 53.) 



Description. — Male : head crested ; blackish on the upper 

 parts and tail, and co\'ered with white spots. The spots on the 

 tail are very regular. Throat white. Breast rufous. Abdo- 

 men white and spotted with black. Iris dark brown. Bill 

 black. Legs blackish with olive tinge. 



Lrngfh, 17.5 ; tail, 4.80 ; wing, 7. 60. 



The female differs from the male in the upper part of the 

 breast, being white with a band of black spots across. The 

 lower breast and abdomen are rufous. 



Distribution. — The whole of Africa. In South Africa it is 

 met with from the coasts of the Cape Province to the Zambesi. 



Habits. — This kiniztisher is a iiiant amono; its kind. It 

 associates in pairs and small family parties, and is never found 

 fir from water. It frequents the seacoast and all the water 

 courses, and pays periodic visits to ponds and dams. They feed 

 on fish, Crustacea, and a yarietv of aquatic forms of life. They 

 obtain the fish by suddenly dashing down on them when they 

 are swimming near the surface. A pond in one of the public 

 parks in Port Elizabeth was cleared of gold fish by a pair of these 

 kingfishers which visited it at daybreak and at dusk. The nest 

 is at the end of a hole made by the birds in a perpendicular 

 bank. The eggs are white, and 4 in number. They breed 

 in August and September. 



124 



