THE KINGFISHER : 



[ORDER : Coracii/ormes. FAMILY : Alcedinidce] 

 PRELIMINARY CLASSIFIED NOTES 



[F. C. R. JOURDAIN. W. P. PYCRAFT. A. L. THOMSON] 



KINGFISHER [A Icedo ispida Linnaeus. French, martin pecheur ; German, 

 Eisvogel ; Italian, martin pescatore], 



1. Description. The kingfisher is distinguished at once by the blue of the 

 upper and the chestnut-red of the under parts, the long beak, and red, syndactyle 

 feet. The sexes are alike. (PI. 87.) Length 7*5 in. [19O50 mm.]. The upper parts 

 are of a dark greenish blue relieved on the crown and wings by spots of cobalt-blue 

 and by a broad band of cobalt-blue running down the back. The lores and ear- 

 coverts are chestnut-red ; on the side of the neck is a patch of white bounded below 

 by a dark blue malar stripe ; the throat is white. The female is slightly, but hardly 

 perceptibly, duller than the male, and has the base of the mandible red. The 

 juvenile plumage is like that of the adults, but markedly duller, especially on the 

 fore-neck and breast, where the feathers are fringed with ashy grey. The coloration 

 of the upper surface of the kingfisher varies greatly in intensity and hue, according 

 to the incidence of light, [w. p. p.] 



2. Distribution. This species is resident in the British Isles, and is on the 

 whole fairly general in England and Wales, although it avoids the mountain districts 

 as a rule, and is generally found in the low-lying parts, where steep earthy banks 

 provide facilities for nesting. In Scotland it is scarcer, especially in the north, 

 where it is almost unknown, while it is only a casual visitor to the north-west 

 Highlands and Skye, and a very rare straggler to the Outer Hebrides. In Ireland, 

 although very scarce, it is known to have bred in every county. On the Continent 

 it occurs rather locally in the plains : in Scandinavia it has bred once in the south, 

 and nests occasionally in Denmark ; while in Russia its range extends as far north 



