THE KINGFISHER. 331 



It is a sufficiently common bird, although distributed very thinly 

 over the whole country, and considering the great number of eggs 

 which it lays, and the large proportion of young which it rears, is 

 probably more plentiful than is generally supposed to be the case. 

 The straight, glancing flight of the Kingfisher, as it shoots along the 

 river-bank, its azure back gleaming in the sunlight with meteoric 

 splendor, is a sight familiar to all those who have been accustomed 

 to wander by the sides of rivers, whether for the purpose of angling 

 or merely to study the beauties of nature. So swift is the flight of this 

 bird, and with such wonderful rapidity does it move its short wings, that 

 its shape is hardly perceptible as it passes through the air, and it leaves 

 upon the eye of the observer the impression of a blue streak of light. 



The food of this bird consists chiefly, though not exclusively, of fish, 

 which it takes, kills, and eats in the following manner : 



Seated upon a convenient bough or rail that overhangs a stream 

 where the smaller fish love to pass, the Kingfisher waits very patiently 

 until he sees an unsuspecting minnow or stickleback pass below his 

 perch, and then with a rapid movement drops into the water like a 

 stone and secures his prey. Should it be a small fish, he swallows it at 

 once ; but if it should be of rather large dimensions, he carries it to a 

 stone or stump, beats it two or three times against the hard substance, 

 and then swallows it without any trouble. 



With the fish it generally feeds its young, being able to disgorge at 

 will the semi-digested food which it has swallowed, after the manner 

 of most birds of prey. Fish, however, do not constitute its sole nourish- 

 ment, as it is known to eat various insects, such as dragon-flies and 

 water-beetles, and will often in cold weather pay a visit to the seashore 

 for the purpose of feeding upon the little crabs, shrimps, and sandhop- 

 pers that are found upon the edge of the tide. 



The nest of the Kingfisher is always made in some convenient bank, 

 at the extremity of a hole w-hich has previously been occupied and de- 

 serted by the water-rat or other mining quadrupeds, and been enlarged 

 and adapted for use by the Kingfisher. Now and then the nest of this 

 bird has been found built in the deserted hole of a rabbit-warren. It 

 is always found that the tunnel slopes gently upward, and that the 

 bird has shaped the extremity into a globular form in order to contain 

 the parent bird, the nest, and eggs. Sometimes the nest is placed 

 in the natural crevices formed by the roots of trees growing on the 

 water's edge. In many cases it is easily detected, for the birds are 

 very careless about the concealment of their nest even before the eggs 

 are hatched ; and after the young have made their appearance in the 

 world they are so clamorous for food and so insatiable in their appetite 

 that their noisy voices can be heard for some distance, and indicate with 

 great precision the direction of their home. 



