BEE-EATER. 16i> 



seriously adopted by St. Ambrose ; who tells us, with 

 superstitious simplicity, that Providence, to manifest his 

 kindness, grants a perfect exemption from storms during 

 the period which this bird requires to hatch her young. 

 " The seamen," adds he, " are not ignorant of this bless- 

 ing ; they call this interval of fair weather their halcyon 

 days ; and. are particularly anxious to seize the opportu- 

 nity, as they have then no interruption to dread." 



The king-fisher is, indeed, a beautiful and an extra- 

 ordinary bird, but it little deserves the praise which 

 die romantic writers of antiquity have heaped upon it. 

 It unites in itself, however, something appertaining to 

 almost every tribe. It possesses appetites for prey like 

 the rapacious kinds, and an attachment to water like the 

 aquatic fowls ; it has also the beautiful plumage of the 

 peacock, the delicate shadings of the humming-bird, the 

 short legs of the swallow, and the bill of the crow. 



This bird frequents the banks of rivers; and feeds on 

 fishes, which it catches in surprising numbers, considering 

 its clumsy form and diminutive size. It is almost con- 

 stantly in action ; and on a clear day its plumage exhibits 

 an astonishing diversity of brilliant colours, while the bird 

 itself remains in the air. 



During the season of incubation, the fidelity and at- 

 tachment of the male are exemplary ; he brings the female 

 such large supplies of fish, that she is generally fatter at 

 that season than any other; The young are hatched at 

 the end of twenty days ; but do not acquire the beauty 

 of their plumage in perfection, till after the first moulting- 

 season. The species of this genus are pretty numerous, 

 and widely diffused. 



THE BEE-EATER. 



This bird is about the size of a blackbird, and is shaped 

 like the king-fisher. The bill is like that of the latter 

 tribe, except that it is a little more incurvated ; the tongue 

 la long, slender, and fringed at the tip ; and the feet are 



