KINGFISHERS 159 



point of the nape as it is forced up between the 

 shoulders by the abrupt flexure of the neck over 

 the erect little body. When they have secured a 

 small fish, it is at once conveyed to a convenient 

 site in which it may be mashed and hammered into 

 a state fit to be swallowed ; not uncommonly the 

 place first chosen is found to be unsuitable, and is 

 abandoned for a better one. They are by no means 

 shy birds, and when they have found a good fishing- 

 station, will often continue to occupy it in complete 

 disregard of the close presence of people who may 

 be passing to and fro carrying water, or otherwise 

 occupied on the bank beneath ; but, at the same 

 time, they are careful to choose secluded places for 

 their nests, and never excavate their burrows in 

 such exposed banks as the common Halcyons often 

 select. 



Halcyon smyrnensis is even more of a garden- 

 bird than the little kingfisher is, as it is by no 

 means dependent on the presence of water for a 

 supply of food. 1 They do, indeed, often fish, but 

 the staple of their diet consists of insects of many 

 different kinds, shrews, mice, and small reptiles and 

 batrachians. These, whilst often specially abundant 

 on the banks of ponds, are yet readily attainable in 

 many other places in sufficient quantity to allow 

 the birds to spend much of their time in fields, 



1 This is a much larger bird than Akedo ispida, and is specially dis- 

 tinguished by its brilliant red bill. 



