230 KINGFISHERS. 



branch, where he kills his captive by shifting its position in his bill, so as to 

 .rjrasp it firmly near the tail, and striking its head smartly against the object 

 on which he rests ; he then reverses its position, and swallows it head fore- 

 most : the indigestible parts are afterwards ejected in a manner analogous to 

 that of owls and other birds of prey. The kingfisher, however, does not con- 

 fine himself to this mode of watching in motionless solitude ; but should the 

 stream be broad, or no favourable station iox espionage present itself, he may be 

 seen poising himself over the water at an altitude of ten or fifteen feet, scruti- 

 nizing it closely in search of his food, upon which he plunges with a velocity 

 which often carries hini considerably below the surface. For these habits his 

 muscular wedge-shaped body, increasing gradually from a long pointed bill, 

 and his sleek plumage, which, while it passes freely through the water, is im- 

 pervious to wet, seem expressly to adapt him ; his wings are short but powerful ; 

 and hence his flight is smooth, even, and exceedingly rapid. Silent, except 

 during the pairing and breeding season, when he occasionally utters a sharp 

 piercing cry, indicative perhaps of attachment, and equally solitary and un- 

 social in his habits, the kingfisher dwells alone, seldom consorting with others, 

 or even with his mate except during the rearing of the young, when both sexes 

 discharge with assiduity the duty of procuring requisite supplies of food. The 

 places selected for incubation are steep and secluded banks overhanging ponds 

 and rivers, where in a hole, generally at a considerable distance above the sur- 

 face of the water, and extending to the depth of two or three feet into the bank, 

 the female, without making a nest, lays five or six eggs, of a beautiful pinky 

 white. As soon as the young are hatched, the parent birds may be seen in- 

 cessantly passing to and from the hole with food, the ejected remains of which 

 in a short time accumulate around the unfledged brood. The young do not 

 leave the hole until fully fledged, when, seated on some neighbouring branch, 

 they may be known by their clamorous twittering as they greet their parents, 

 from whom they impatiently expect supplies of food. In a short time, how- 

 ever, they commence fishing for themselves, assuming at that early age a 

 plumage nearly resembling the adult. The young appear to possess habits 

 of partial migration, at least in our own island ; they wander from the interior 

 of the country along the rivers to the coast, and in the autumnal and winter 

 months frecjuent the mouths of small rivulets and dykes near the sea. 



A remarkable genus {Aleyone) found in the Indian Archipelago, NewGuinea, 

 and Australia, differ from the preceding by the total absence of their inner 

 toe. 



A third group {Cery/e) inhabit Africa, India, and most parts of America. 

 These arc always found in the neighbourhood of fresh-water streams and fall- 

 ing water, perched solitarily on an overhanging branch, watching the approach 

 of a fish to the surface, when, with a sudden sweep, they pounce upon it, and 

 swallow it in an instant. Their flight is rapid and straight, and the voice of 

 some species loud, hoarse, and somewhat resembling a rattle. Their nest is 

 constructed at the extremity of a long gallery dug in clayey or sandy banks 

 to the depth of several feet, but having its termination wide enough to allow 

 both parents to turn round in it. The eggs are usually five or six in number. 



