THE KINGFISHER. 167 
our ancestors had placed it; for there seems to be 
nothing in its external formation which can warrant 
this arbitrary transposition. The plumage of the 
kingfisher is precisely that of the land bird, and, of 
course, some parts of the skin are bare of feathers ; 
while the whole body is deprived of that thick coat 
of down so remarkable in those birds which are 
classed under the denomination of water-fowl. Its 
feet are not webbed; its breast-bone is formed 
like that of land birds; and its legs are ill calculated 
to enable it to walk into the water. Thus we see 
that it can neither swim with .the duck, nor dive 
with the merganser, nor wade with the heron. Its 
act of immersion in the water is quite momentary, 
and bears no similarity to the immersion of those 
water-fowl which can pursue their prey under the 
surface, and persevere for a certain length of time, 
till they lay hold of it. Still the mode of taking its 
food is similar to that of the gulls, which first see 
the fish, and then plunge into the deep to obtain it; 
but this bird differs from the gull in every other 
habit. 
You observe the kingfisher sitting on a rock, or 
upon the branch of a tree, or hovering over the 
water; and the moment a fish is seen in the stream 
below, it drops down upon it like a falling stone. 
If it miss the mark, which is rarely the case, it 
comes up again immediately, without further exer- 
tion in the water, and then flies off, or occasionally 
regains its former station in order to make another 
plunge. As this process of immersion is of very 
short duration, the bird is enabled to escape with 
M 4 
