THE TINY KINGFISHEE. 



183 



seems to be, it loses all its gorgeousness when viewed against freshly fallen snow, and is 

 not a whit less dxill than that of the dipper. This curious fact is noticed by ]\Ir. Thompson, 

 whose acute and practised eye was unable to recognise the species of a small brown bird 

 that continually tiitted across his path as he was engaged in shooting woodcocks, and who 

 was so perplexed by its curious style of flight, that he at last shot it, and to his regret 

 found that he had killed a Kingfisher. 



So conspicuous a bird as the Kingfisher takes, as may be imagined, a conspicuous 

 part in legends of antiquity, and the traditions of the present day. 



The classical scholar is familiar with the expression " Halcyon days," which is so 

 frequently employed to denote a season of special security and joyou.sne.ss, and is derived 

 from an old fable, that the Halcyon or Kingfisher made its nest on the surface of the seas 

 and possessed some innate power of charming the waves and winds to rest during the time 

 of its Lucubation. Fourteen days of calm weather were in the p)ower of the Kingfisher, 

 or Alcyone, who was fabled to be the daughter of ^olus, wearing a feathered form in token 

 of grief for the loss of Ceyx, her husband, and to have derived her arrthority from her 

 father, the lord of winds. 



In many parts of England at the present day there is a singular idea concerning the 

 Kingfisher, which seems to have its origin in the same mythical history. Those who are 

 familiar with cottage life in the rural districts will often have noticed a Kingfisher 

 svxspended bj^ the point of the beak from the beams of the ceiling, and if they have asked 

 the object of the custom, will 

 learn that the bird always turns 

 its breast towards the quarter 



fiom which the wind is blowing. ^ 



Some writers in mentioning this 

 custom have said that the bird is 

 so suspended as to point with its 

 beak towards the wind ; but in 

 eveiy case where I have seen this 

 curious wind-vane, it has been 

 hung by the very extremity of 

 the beak, so as to rotate freely 

 in every direction. The bird is 

 not stuffed, but various spices are 

 placed in its interior after the 

 viscera have been removed, and 

 the body is then dried by exposure 

 to the sun. 



The Tiny Kingfisher is 

 found, according to Goidd, in 

 Northern Australia and New 

 Guinea, and is a remarkably 

 beautiful little creature. 



In its habits it is very shy, and seems to prefer the deepest thicket as its place of resi- 

 dence, so that it cannot easily be approached without taking the alarm, and, indeed, is 

 but seldom seen at all, even by those who give their attention wholly to the search after 

 objects of natural history. Its voice, however, wiU olten betray its presence, as it is fond of 

 hearing itself talk, and frequently utters a shrill piping note, which can be heard at a con- 

 siderable distance, and cannot be mistaken for the voice of any other bird. Although it 

 is able to fly with considerable swiftness, it is not very powerlid on the wing, its flight 

 being strangely unsteady. 



In its habits it resembles the European Kingfisher, catching and feeding on fish in much 

 the same manner. 



The general colour of the Tiny Kingfisher is a most intense blue, which, with few 

 exceptions, is spread over the whole of the upper surface. Upon the eyes and below the 



TINY KINGFISHEE.— 4Zci,o/ie piisilla. 



