THE KINGFISHER. 285 



not long ago caught on Salisbury Plain, in a weak and 

 exhausted state : it must have come from a distance, as 

 its beak was filled with red clay, of a quality not found 

 in that neighbourhood. If fatigued from the journey 

 it had performed, the distance must have been very 

 great ; for one approached a vessel in the middle of the 

 Atlantic, and kept company with it a good way, but did 

 not settle on board, which it probably would have done 

 had it been tired. 



It is common in some parts of the Continent, and by 

 no means wild, for we have seen it on the ground, and 

 on the trees in a public walk at Seville, but is most 

 abundant in Egypt and Arabia, where they are called 

 the children of Solomon, from a tradition that they 

 formed part of the cargo of the " navy of Tarshis h," 

 bringing to him, from Ophir, " gold and silver, ivory, 

 and apes, and peacocks. " (1 Kings x. 22.) It is cur- 

 rently believed by the people of the country, that its 

 crest was then a crown of gold ; but that the avidity of 

 mankind for this precious metal occasioning the birds to 

 be often killed for their crowns, they assembled toge- 

 ther, and represented their case to Solomon himself. 

 This monarch, in his great wisdom, understood the lan- 

 guages of all animals, as well as of all people on the face 

 of the earth; and, hearing and pitying their case, he 

 prayed to their Creator to ameliorate their destiny, when 

 the crown of gold was instantly changed to a crest of 

 feathers, of equal, if not still greater beauty. 



The Kingfisher, rivalling, if not exceeding the Bee- 

 Eater, in the blues and greens of its beautiful plumage, 

 is also much more common. Most of our readers may 

 probably have seen it darting in the direction of a 

 brook-course, like a flying emerald. We were once for- 

 tunate enough to watch one, within a few yards, for 

 some time. It was on a calm sunny day ; the bird was 

 observed to settle on the post of a rail, projecting into a 

 piece of water : a boat was gently impelled towards it, 

 in perfect silence ; it seemed to take no notice, sitting 



