178 THE KINGFISHER. 



and the shoulder, and also are scattered in an uninterrupted band across the chest. The 

 food of this bird consists mostly of fish, although it feeds also on aquatic insects. Its 

 nest is made among large stones, and is not composed only of fish-bones, as is the case 

 with the common European Kingfisher, but is rather elaborately constructed of mud lined 

 with grasses, and adheres to the stones after the fashion of the well-known swallows' nest. 

 The e"-gs are four in number, and resemble the parent bird in their markings. 



Africa affords an instance of another species belonging to the same genus, Ceryle. 

 This is the Great African Kingfisher, an inhabitant of Senegal, Congo, and many parts 

 of Western Africa ; a bird which well deserves its specific title of " maxima," or greatest, 

 as it is the largest -species of the genus to which it Ijelongs, measuring nearly fifteen inches 

 from the point of the very loug beak to the extremity of the rather short tail. 



It is by no means a gaudy bird, possessing none of the metallic green and blue 

 plumage which is so conspicuous in many species belonging to the same group, but is 

 nevertheless adorned with bold and striking marks of black, white, and deep ashen-grey. 

 The top of the head is black, with the exception of a white streak that runs from the eye 

 towards the nostrils, and is furnished with a feathery tuft. The whole of tlie upper 

 surface is of a dark ashen-grey, approaching to brown. The same hue extends over the 

 wings, but is diversified with a great number of short white bars and dashes, which are 

 also found, but very small in size and very thinly scattered, upon the back. The tail is 

 also ashen-grey, and marked with seven distinct white bars on each feather, and on a close 

 examination, the middle of the feathers will be found to be black. Across the whole of 

 the chest runs a very broad reddish-brown band, obscurely spotted with a darker hue. 

 The chin is grey, and the cheeks are pure white marked with a number of black " tears," 

 which arrange themselves in several lines. The abdomen and under surface are greyish- 

 white, marked on the sides with dark-brown spots, and towards the tail with short 

 irregular bands of the same hue. 



Another species of Ceryle, the Black and White Kingfisher {CeryU rudis), is 

 remarkable for the peculiarity of tinting from which it derives its name, which affords a 

 rather remarkable contrast to the brilliant hues of blue and green which decorate the 

 majority of these birds. It is a native of many parts of the Old World, being spread over 

 various portions of Asia and Africa. 



The common Kingfisher is by far the most gorgeously decorated of all our indigenous 

 birds, and can bear comparison with many of the gaily decorated inhabitants of tropical 

 climates. 



It is a sufficiently common bird, although distributed very thinly over the whole 

 country, and considering the great number of eggs which it lays, and the large proportion 

 of young which it rears, is probably more plentiful than is generally supposed to be the 

 case. The straight, glancing flight of the Kingfisher, as it shoots along the river-bank, its 

 azure back gleaming in the sunlight with meteoric splendour, is a sight familiar to all 

 those who have been accustomed to wander by the sides of rivers, whether for the 

 purpose of angling, or merely to study the beauties of nature. So swift is the flight of 

 this bird, and with such wonderful rapidity does it move its short wings, that its shape 

 is hardly perceptible as it passes through the air, and it leaves upon the eye of the 

 observer the impression of a blue streak of light. This straight, arrow-like course is that 

 which is generally adopted by the bird, but on some occasions the Engfishers ^vill become 

 very playful, and sport with each other in the air, turning and wheeling with much 

 adroitness as they mutually chase or avoid each other in their game. 



The food of this bird consists chiefly, though not exclusively, of fish, which it takes, 

 kills, and eats in the following manner : — 



Seated upon a convenient bough or rail that overhangs a stream where the smaller 

 fish love to pass, the Kingfisher waits very patiently until he sees an unsuspecting minnow 

 or stickleback pass below his perch, and then, with a rapid movement, drops into the 

 water like a stone and secures his prey. Should it be a small fish, he swallows it at 

 once ; but if it should be of rather large dimensions, he carries it to a stone or stump. 



