KINGFISHER. 451 



curs also in Beloochistan, Persia and Arabia. Egypt affords 

 a winter-residence for its young, as also Mauritania, but it 

 is said to breed in Morocco, and it visits the Canaries and 

 Madeira. Returning to the continent it is pretty generally 

 distributed in every part of Europe* and Asia within the 

 boundaries just traced, but is hardly anywhere plentiful, 

 though in hard frosts it often collects in some numbers 

 around any open water ; and, being conspicuous as it sits on 

 the ice, a name signifying Ice-bird has been applied to it in 

 all the Teutonic languages.! 



The bill is black, with the base of the lower mandible 

 orange : the irides hazel : lores black, space between the 

 nostrils and eyes, and the ear-coverts, chestnut ; top of the 

 head and the nape very dark green, each feather with a sub- 

 terminal bar of glossy verditer-blue ; scapulars, tertials and 

 upper wing-coverts dark green, the last tipped with glossy 

 verditer-blue ; remaining flight-feathers dull greenish-black, 

 the exposed portion of the outer web, except near the tip of 

 the primaries, being deep greenish-blue ; middle of the back, 

 rump and upper tail-coverts bright glossy verditer-blue ; 

 rectrices indigo-blue ; chin, throat and an oblique patch on 

 each side of the neck, white, tinged with buff; from the base 

 of the mandible a dark green band, barred with verditer-blue 

 as on the head, descends to the sides of the breast ; the rest 

 of the lower surface rich chestnut, somewhat paler towards 

 the vent ; quill-feathers beneath dusky : legs and toes reddish- 

 brown, claws dusky. 



The whole length is about seven inches and a half ; the 

 bill an inch and a half along the ridge, and two inches to the 

 gape ; the wing from the carpal joint to the tip, three inches. 



The female is somewhat greener and rather less brightly 

 coloured than the male, and her bill a little smaller : there 

 is otherwise but little outward sexual difference. 



Young birds have the bill shorter and wholly black, while 

 their plumage though just of the same character as in the 

 adults is everywhere duller, and also much darker. 



* It is said however to be very rare in Oldenburg, 

 t The Anglo-Saxon name was Isern or hen. 



