132 THE KINGFISHER 
to make a complete revolution on its axis, and this without any 
painful effort. I purchased the bird and gaveit its liberty, satisfied 
to have discovered the propriety of the name Torquilla1 I may here 
remark that the name Iynx,? is derived from its harsh cry. Besides 
this, the proper call-note of the bird, it utters, when disturbed in its 
nest, another which resembles a hiss ; whence and partly, perhaps, 
on account of the peculiar structure of its neck, it is sometimes called 
the Snake-bird. Nest, properly speaking, it has none; it selects 
a hole in a decaying tree and lays its eggs on the rotten wood. 
Its powers of calculating seem to be of a very low order. Yarrell 
records an instance in which four sets of eggs, amounting to 
twenty-two, were successively taken before the nest was deserted ; 
a harsh experiment, and scarcely to be justified except on the plea 
that they were taken by some one who gained his livelihood by 
selling eggs, or was reduced to a strait from want of food. A similar 
instance is recorded in the Zoologist, when the number of eggs taken 
was also twenty-two. The Wryneck is a common bird in the south- 
eastern counties of England and to the west as far as Somersetshire ; 
but I have never heard its note in Devon or Cornwall ; it is rare also 
in the northern counties. 
FAMILY ALCEDINID/ 
THE KINGFISHER 
ALCEDO {SPIDA 
Back azure-blue; head and wing-coverts bluish green, spotted with azure- 
blue ; under and behind the eye a reddish band passing into white, and 
beneath this a band of azure-green ; wings and tail greenish blue; throat 
white ; under plumage rusty orange-red. Length seven inches ard a 
quarter ; width ten inches. Eggs glossy white, nearly round. 
Hatcyon days, every one knows, are days of peace and tranquillity, 
when all goes smoothly, and nothing occurs to ruffle the equanimity 
of the most irascible member of a household; but it may not be 
known to all my younger readers that a bird is said to be in any way 
concerned in bringing about this happy state of things. According 
to the ancient naturalists the Halcyon, our Kingfisher, being especi- 
ally fond of the water and its products, chooses to have even a float- 
ing nest. Now the surface of the sea is an unfit place whereon to 
construct a vessel of any kind, so the Halcyon, as any other skilful 
artisan would, puts together on land first the framework, and 
1 From the Latin torqueo, ‘ to twist.’ 
® Greek lvyi from létw, to ‘ shriek.’ 
