48 



PASSERES. ALCEDINID^:. 



upper parts is resplendent with emerald green, 

 becoming on the tail ultramarine blue, while the 

 under parts are of a pale orange hue ; the throat 

 and neck are varied with white and blue. 



KINGFISHER. 



The ordinary food of our beautiful Kingfisher 

 is certainly fish ; the stickleback and the minnow, 

 with the young of larger species, supply his need ; 

 but he is said also to eat slugs, worms, and 

 leeches. The manner in which he procures his 

 prey is graphically drawn in the following picture 

 of his habits by Mr. Martin : " Occasionally it 

 hovers at a moderate elevation over the water, 

 and then darts down with astonishing velocity and 

 suddenness on some unwary fish, which, heedless 

 of its foe, ventures near the surface, and which is 



