602 



A HISTORY OF 



CHAPTER CXXXV. 



OF THE KING FISHER. 



1 will conclude this history of birds with 

 one that seems to unite in itself somewhat of 

 every class preceding. It seems at once pos- 

 sessed of appetites for prey like the rapaci- 

 ous kinds, with an attachment to water like 

 the birds of that element. It exhibits in its 

 form the beautiful plumage of the peacock, 

 the shadings of the humming-bird, the bill of 

 the crane, and the short legs of the swallow. 

 The bird I mean is the King-fisher, of which 

 many extraordinary falsehoods have been 

 propagated ; and yet of which many extra- 

 ordinary things remain to be said that are ac- 

 tually true. 



The King-fisher is not much larger than a 

 swallow; its shape is clumsy; the legs dis- 

 proportionably small, and the bill dispropor- 

 tionably long; it is two inches from the base 

 to the tip; the upper chap black, and the 

 lower yellow : but the colours of this bird 

 atone for its inelegant form ; the crown of the 

 head and the coverts of the wings are of a 

 deep blackish green, spotted with bright 

 azure; the back and tail are of the most re- 

 splendent azure ; the whole under-side of the 

 body is orange-coloured; a broad mark of 

 the same passes from the bill beyond the eyes; 

 beyond that is a large white spot: the tail is 

 short, and consists of twelve feathers of a rich 

 deep blue; the feet are of a reddish yellow, 

 and the three joints of the outmost toe adhere 

 to the middle toe, while the inner toe adheres 

 only by one. 



From the diminutive size, the slender short 

 legs, and the beautiful colours of this bird, 

 no person would be led to suppose it one of 

 the most rapacious little animals that skims 

 the deep. Yet it is for ever on the wing, and 



Mr. Montague, who paid much attention to the man- 

 ners of this bird, says, that they never suspend themselves 

 oil the wing, and dart on their prey, like the osprey ; but 

 that they sit p;itient!y on a bough over the water, and 

 when a small fish comes near the surface, they dart on it, 



feeds on fish, which it takes in surprising 

 quantities, when we consider its size and fi- 

 gure. It chiefly frequents the banks of rivers, 

 and takes its prey after the manner of the 

 osprey, balancing itself at a certain distance 

 above the water for a considerable space, 

 then darting into the deep, and seizing the 

 fish with inevitable certainty. While it re- 

 mains suspended in the air, in a bright day, 

 the plumage exhibits a beautiful variety of 

 the most dazzling and brilliant colours. It 

 might have been this extraordinary beauty 

 that has given rise to fable; for wherever 

 there is any thing uncommon, fancy is always 

 willing to increase the wonder." 



Of this bird it has been said, that she built 

 her nest on the water, and thus in a few days 

 hatched and produced her young. But, to be 

 uninterrupted in this task, she was said to 

 be possessed of a charm to allay the fury of 

 the waves; and during this period the mari- 

 ner might sail with the greatest security. 

 The ancient poets are full of these fables; 

 their historians are not exempt from them. 

 Cicero has written a long poem in praise of 

 the halcyon, of which there remain but two 

 lines. Even the emperor Gordian has writ- 

 ten a poem on this subject, of which we have 

 nothing remaining. These fables have been 

 adopted each by one of the earliest fathers 

 of the church. " Behold," says St. Ambrose, 

 " the little bird, which in the midst of the win- 

 ter lays her eggs on the sand by the shore. 

 From that moment the winds are hushed ; the 

 sea becomes smooth ; and the calm continues 

 for fourteen days. This is the time she re- 

 quires ; seven days to hatch, and seven days 

 to foster her young. Their Creator has taught 



and seize it with their bill. He never could observe the 

 old birds with any thing in their bills, when they went in 

 to feed their young ; from which he concludes that they 

 eject it from their stomachs for this purpose. 



