FEEDING HABITS OF KINGFISHERS. 215 



was not quite extinct. Indeed, I can not see how the 

 kingfisher could utter a prolonged scream with a fish 

 struggling in its beak. When the captured fish, either 

 from its size or from any other cause, is retained in the 

 oesophagus until the bird alights, the movements of the 

 kingfisher in swallowing it are very like those of a pigeon 

 feeding its young. The neck shortens and swells, the 

 feathers are ruffled, and the wings slightly open and shut 

 two or three times. 



A further examination, however, showed me that I 

 was wofully mistaken in my original statement. Not 

 having had my attention called to the subject particularly, 

 my casual observations had led me to suppose that I 

 knew the kingfisher perfectly, when, in fact, my ac- 

 quaintance with the bird was very slight. This dawned 

 upon me when I found the truth of my assertions in 

 " Nature " doubted by many ; and also, when I was as- 

 sured by careful observers that Mr. Darwin's remark did 

 apply to our species of kingfisher. Then I determined 

 to satisfy myself, and I began at once to study very care- 

 fully the habits of the bird in question. During 1873 

 and 1874 I took every opportunity possible of familiar- 

 izing myself with the daily routine of its life, with the 

 following result : In 1873 the whole season from April 

 to November was spent upon the water studying our 

 smaller fresh-water fishes, and my opportunities were 

 unusually good for observing the movements of a pair 

 of these birds. My daily record of observations shows 

 these kingfishers feeding, from one to four times a day, 

 for eighty-three days; or, in other words, during this 

 period I saw them dive for fishes one hundred and sixty- 

 six times, and either every plunge was unsuccessful or 

 the birds swallowed, before alighting, every fish they had 

 taken ; making, of course, due allowance for their occa- 



