432 HISTORY OF 



CHAPTER XIII. 



OF THE KING-FISHER. 



I WILL conclude this History of Birds with one 

 that seems to unite in itself somewhat of every 

 class preceding. It seems at once possessed of 

 appetites for prey like the rapacious kinds, with 

 an attachment to water like the birds of that ele- 

 ment. It exhibits in its form the beautiful plu- 

 mage 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 

 extraordinary things remain to be said that are 

 actually true. 



The king-fisher is not much larger than a 

 swallow ; its shape is clumsy ; the legs dispropor- 

 tionably small, and the bill disproportionably 

 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-grey, spotted 

 with bright azure ; the back and tail are of the 

 most resplendent azure j 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 



