KINGFISHER. 323 



observed any indication of their return in spring. The 

 greater number of those which occur are young birds." 

 In the severe winter of 1859-60, a very unusual number 

 of kingfishers appeared in this neighbourhood, and 

 during the intense frost at that time, between the 12th 

 and 24th of December, when the rivers, drains, and 

 watercourses of every kind were thickly frozen, more 

 than twenty of these beautiful little creatures, from one 

 locality only, were brought into Norwich to be stuffed. 

 Most of them had been shot by the side of a mill pool, 

 where the open water, caused by the action of the 

 flushes, afforded the only chance of obtaining their 

 finny prey ; and several were picked up dead upon the 

 ice, frozen hard and stiff, and apparently starved to 

 death. In one instance a kingfisher was seen to pitch 

 down close to the bank of the rivei, and rising again, fly 

 off to a rail close by. The person watching this bird 

 saw it attempt to swallow something, when it suddenly 

 fell backwards and was picked up dead. On being 

 examined afterwards it was found to have bolted a little 

 shrew mouse, which unusual morsel had evidently 

 caused its untimely end, and showed how hard pressed 

 these poor birds must have been for their natural food. 

 These were, no doubt, for the most part homebred birds, 

 as their scarcity during the following spring and summer 

 was particularly noticeable, and in the winter of 1860-1, 

 though very severe, the kingfisher was scarcely seen. 

 From that time they did not again appear to be par- 

 ticularly numerous until the beginning of 1864, when, 

 during the hard frost that prevailed at the beginning of 

 January, between thirty and forty specimens at least 

 were shot in the immediate vicinity of Norwich, and 

 others were picked up entirely starved out. To a record 

 of this fact communicated to the " Zoologist" by Mr. T. 

 E. Gunn (p. 8954), Mr. Newman has also appended the 

 following note : " A still larger number were killed or 

 2T2 



