162 



THE KINGFISHER. 



renew their eternal warfare with the billows. It 

 is to this Milton alludes in the following quaint 

 but beautiful lines, from his unrivalled Ode on 

 the Nativity. 



" The winds witK wonder whist, 

 Smoothly the waters kist, 



Whispering new joys to the mild ocean, 

 Who now hath quite forgot to rave, 

 While birds of calm sit brooding o'er the charmed wave." 



The flight of the kingfisher is extremely rapid. 

 Destined to live by destroying other creatures, 

 its leading characteristics are patience, persever- 

 ance, and courage. Perched on a slight branch 

 overhanging a stream, it will remain a great 

 length of time waiting the passage of its prey 

 beneath. Sometimes moving rapidly along the 

 banks, it detects the fish with its keen glance, 

 and seizes them with the utmost dexterity. The 

 eagerness with which it darts into the water after 

 its prey, is quite extraordinary. At other times 

 it will skim swiftly over the surface of the water, 

 uttering a sharp cry, and seizing such fish as 

 may come within its reach. 



Cuvier thus describes the bird : " The Eu- 

 ropean kingfisher is as large as a sparrow : green- 

 ish above, waved with black : a broad band of the 

 finest aqua-marine blue prevails along the back. 



