KINGFISHER. 279 



plan of snaring them, or catching them with bird lime, will shortly 

 place them in the list of rare birds ; Richard Leyland observes " An 

 interesting circumstance connected with the history of this bird has 

 fallen under my notice ; in autumn an assemblage of them in some of 

 the narrow glens (or cloughs as they are called about Halifax) takes 

 place ; probably the river swollen by the autumnal rains renders the 

 acquisition of their food difficult, and consequently compels them to 

 seek it in shallower water. A bird stuffer, with whom I was well 

 acquainted, procured in one season more than fifty specimens by placing 

 a net across the bottom of the clough, and, commencing to beat the 

 bushes from above, drove every bird into the net." 



In spite of the persecution accorded to this lovely denizen 

 of our river banks, whose brilliant plumage attracts the 

 cupidity of collectors, the Kingfisher is still found on nearly 

 every suitable stream in the county, and from most districts 

 it is reported as either breeding, or being met with in winter, 

 with more or less frequency. Owing to its conservative 

 habits it is nowhere abundant during the nesting season, 

 as each pair reserve a portion of their favourite stream or 

 rivulet to themselves, and when the young are fully grown 

 they are forthwith banished to seek fresh quarters, con- 

 sequently the species is much less local in the non-breeding 

 season, and at this period is frequently reported in the 

 neighbourhood of the large towns usually forming the 

 subject of an obituary notice in the local press. 



In regard to the West Riding it is gratifying to be able 

 to state that, in the Lower Wharfe and Nidd Valleys, the bird 

 is not uncommon, and is probably increasing and more 

 abundant than in most parts of the Shire. Fairly common 

 about Wilsden and Bingley in the Aire Valley, Skelmanthorpe, 

 and in the valley of the Hodder, it also breeds in favourable 

 places near Sheffield, Wakefield, Ackworth, Fewston, Bashall, 

 Malham, Langstrothdale, and along the Ribble ; in the 

 vicinity of Liversedge, Huddersfield, Newsome, Leeds, and 

 Eavestone it is only rarely met with, and has decreased in 

 numbers of late years. Coming to the North Riding, the 

 Kingfisher breeds regularly along the banks of the Ouse 

 and its affluents in the neighbourhood of York, while in winter 

 no fewer than sixteen have been reported in one season from 



