KINGFISHER. 



The young, Mr. Gould observes, do not leave the hole 

 till fully fledged and capable of flight ; when, seated on 

 some neighbouring branch, they may be known by their 

 clamorous twittering, greeting their parents as they pass, 

 from whom they impatiently expect their supplies ; in 

 a short time, however, they commence fishing for them- 

 selves, assuming at that early age nearly the adult 

 plumage. 



Young Kingfishers, if taken from the nest, are not diffi- 

 cult to rear ; they require a supply of small fish for a time, 

 but may afterwards be brought to do well on chopped beef. 

 If kept in an aviary of sufficient size to admit a large stone 

 trough, or tin bath, filled with clear water, in which they 

 can be supplied with live minnows, these birds make an 

 interesting display of their powers and mode of proceeding, 

 and may be kept in good health ; but are voracious 

 feeders : the quantity of minnows that a brood of young 

 Kingfishers will consume is quite extraordinary. Towards 

 the end of autumn these birds should be separated, or the 

 strongest will be certain to kill the weaker ones, even 

 to the last bird. This happened two seasons following 

 to my friend Mr. William Rayner, of Uxbridge, who, 

 living within a short distance of the river Colne, is able 

 to obtain Kingfishers as well as minnows, and whose aviary 

 is seldom without living specimens of both. 



The Kingfisher flies rapidly, with a very quick action of 

 his short wings, and is a difficult bird to shoot when in 

 motion. It is said to have a shrill piping note, and is 

 known to quit inland waters on the approach of the frosts 

 of winter, visiting for a time the flat shores of the sea.* 



Mr. William Macgillivray, in his history of British 

 Birds, vol. iii. page 679, mentions, on the authority of 

 Mr. Weir, that Kingfishers in severe winters sometimes 

 * Magazine of Natural History, vol. i. p. 23. 



