Pond Life 
where else; and then, perhaps, just 
when you least expect it, you will look 
up and find to your surprise that the 
kingfisher is just in the place you have 
been expecting to see it, and looking 
as if it. had been there all) the time: 
Or perhaps while you are looking at 
something else, there is a shrill cry all 
of a sudden, and the kingfisher flies 
straight to the place. Whichever way 
it is, there is now ample reward for the 
long waiting in the pleasure of seeing so 
closely the brightest-coloured bird we 
have. You can admire its beautiful 
plumage, which is so much brighter and 
better for being alive that it hardly 
looks like the same bird you have seen 
before only in pictures, or stuffed in a 
glass case. 
For all its beautiful colours, however, 
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