K)8 THE FOOD OF BIRDS IN INDIA. 



1040. Ceyx iridactyla. Indian Three-toed Kingfisher. Ex- 

 clusively small fish and aquatic insects. Jerd. B. L, I, 230 & F. 

 I, III, 128. 



1041. Pelargopsis amauroptera. Brown-winged Kingfisher. 

 Feeds chiefly on fishes. Jerd. B. I., I, 224. 



1043. Pelargopsis gurial. Brown-headed Stork-billed King- 

 fisher. Fish, rats and occasionally frogs. Jerd. B. L, I, 223. 

 Fish, also frogs, crabs, molluscs & lizards. F. L, III, 131. Fish, 

 small lizards, crabs, prawns, birds' eggs, mynah's young. B. N. 

 H. S. J., X, 540. 



Halcyon. This genus feeds on rats, grasshoppers and other 

 nsects. Jerd. B. L, I, 222. 



1044- Halcyon smyrnensis. White-breasted Kingfisher. King- 

 fishers appear to be almost as omnivorous as toads and Eha on page 

 26 of his Common Birds of Bombay mentions how this White-breast- 

 ed Kingfisher (H. smyrnensis) feeds on frogs, w^ater insects, crabs, 

 &c., and even swallows small birds when kept in an aviary. We 

 have certainly seen them dive on to dry land and capture lizards, 

 Calotes versicolor. B. N. H. S. J., XVI, 758. Small birds in dry 

 weather. B. N. H. S. J., XIII, 184. In captivity. Fish, meat, 

 lizards, shrimps, grasshoppers. B. N. H. S. J., XIII, 365. Fish, 

 crabs and insects. B. N. H. S. J., XII. 562. Land-crab, mouse, 

 lizard, grasshopper or other insect. Near water, fish, tadpoles and 

 water insects. Layard states that he has seen it seizing butterflies. 

 Jerd. B. L, I, 225. Occasionally fish, chiefly insects, small lizards, 

 sometimes mice, or land-crabs. F. I., Ill, 133. Often far from 

 water, living on insects, small reptiles, &c. B. N. H. S. J., XVII, 

 965. Chiefly insectivorous. Imp. Gaz. L, 248. Grasshoppers and 

 locusts. A pair of these birds was observed day after day in 

 Madras city, and no food was seen to be captured other than these 

 insects. The food is taken to the top of a tree and then eaten. 

 I have also seen the bird taking grasshoppers at Pusa and 

 Chindwara, once at Pusa (10-4-08) eating a lizard. I once saw 

 a cricket (Brachytrypes achatinus) taken from the wall o a 



