BIRD FISHERMEN 187 



The kingfishers, as the name implies, are perhaps 

 the best fishers of the feathered tribe. This group 

 of birds is divided into no less than two hundred 

 species, and each species differs somewhat in habits. 

 Dr. Sharpe says they "are alike remarkable for their 

 brilliant colouration and for the variety of curious 

 and aberrant forms included among their number." 

 Their plumage is unusually brilliant and attractive, 

 with artistically arranged colour schemes in the pat- 

 terns. 



These fishers feed principally upon fish which 

 they capture alive. Their favourite position seems 

 to be on an overhanging bough, a projecting dead 

 log, or a large stone from which they keep a close 

 watch for their prey. They also like to hang over 

 the water with vibrating wings ready to plunge 

 down upon any luckless fish that may appear. In 

 speaking of the belted kingfisher, Major Bendire 

 says: "Every bird seems to have favourite perches 

 along its range, each perhaps quite a distance away 

 from the next, to which it flies from time to time, 

 generally uttering its well-known shrill rattle in do- 

 ing so. It is a watchful, rather shy bird, sitting 

 frequently for an hour at a time in the same posi- 

 tion, occasionally moving its head backward and 

 forward, watching for its prey as a cat does for a 

 mouse. In such a position the kingfisher is one of 



