rye? BIRDS OF SOMERSETSHIRE. 
for bright-coloured birds as ornaments for their hats, 
and also by the more regular demands of fishing- 
tackle makers; the gamekeeper also occasionally 
makes an onslaught on this bird, as he considers it 
destructive to his trout; the birdstuffer may also be 
numbered as one of the enemies of the Kingfisher, 
as he can ulways make up a pretty case and get a 
ready sale for so bright and beautiful a bird; but in 
spite of all these enemies the Kingfisher may still 
be seen darting, like an animated blue light, from 
one fishing-station to another, or sitting patiently on 
some branch or rock overhanging the water till his 
food comes within reach of his pounce, when he 
drops on it with almost unerring aim. 
The food of the Kingfisher consists mostly of 
small fish, such as minnows, loaches, sticklebacks, 
and perhaps occasionally young trout and battle- 
heads, which latter sometimes prove fatal to the poor 
Kingfisher, as the big head of that fish has been 
known to stick in its throat and choke it;* leaches 
and water beetles also form part of its food. On the 
sea-coast it feeds on the small fish that are left by 
the receding tide in the natural aquariums in the 
rocks, and in calm weather on any fish it can sur- 
* I once found an eel which had been choked in the 
same way: when I found it, it was quite dead, and the tail of 
the battle-head was sticking out of its mouth, the head being 
firmly fixed in its throat, 
