KIN<;KISHI:K 449 



THE KINGFISHER 

 [W. P. PYCRAPT] 



According to popular beliefs, one must seek for birds of gorgeous 

 plumage in the tropics, where animated nature presents a very riot of 

 colour, while in more northern lands sober hues prevail. The king- 

 fisher seems always to be forgotten in this connection, for surely no 

 dweller under tropical skies could be more gorgeously coloured ! Of 

 all our native birds it is one of the most interesting, as it is also one 

 of the most persecuted. It has been made the theme of fables, and 

 of poetry, from time immemorial ; for generations it has been sub- 

 jected to the desecrations of the milliner and the bird-stuflfer, while 

 the malice of the fisherman has been scarcely less malignant : only 

 by the ornithologist has it been neglected. Some facts in regard to 

 its life-history have been harvested from the raids of the egg- 

 collector ; but of the rest of its economy we know little. We are, 

 however, it is to be hoped, entering upon a new era in regard to the 

 study of birds, and the following summary of the little we know of 

 this bird may serve as a basis to a comprehensive and systematic 

 study of every phase of its life. 



To begin with, our kingfisher, like the dipper a "land* 1 bird, 

 has yet acquired the ability to plunge with impunity into streams, 

 whence alone it is now able to procure its food. In its mode of 

 fishing, however, it rather resembles the gannet, for the dipper is 

 able to remain submerged, picking its food from the bottom of 

 the stream, whereas the kingfisher seizes only such creatures as are 

 to be taken from the surface. Any prolonged stay either on or in 

 the water, indeed, is impossible ; for so highly specialised for its 

 peculiar mode of life has this bird become, that the feet are now ex- 

 tremely reduced in size, the front toes being united within a common 

 sheath, almost to their tips, forming what is known as a " syndactyle " 



