BIRDS. 67 



golden lustre, and the richness and variety ot its innu- 

 merable hues ; but alter the termination of.' the breeding- 

 season, a much more humble garb is assimi^l, and many a 

 bizarre appearance is presented by the infewnediate links 

 of that changeable costume which connects 'Ehe holy day- 

 suit of spring with the more quaker-like attire of autumn. 

 Hence the difficult}' of distinguishing between a specific 

 difference and an individual variation, especially where 

 foreign species are concerned ; for in such instances we 

 have seldom a prolonged opportunity of verifying our 

 observations on external characters by an examination' 

 of natural habits and instinctive modes of life. Yet it is 

 only by ascertaining the conformity presented by all these 

 circumstances in a variety of individuals that we are 

 enabled to trace out the exact limits of specific identity. 

 We shall not here enter into further details. 



The next tribe which deserves our notice is that of the 

 kingfishers. These are also distributed over a great por- 

 tion of the earth's surface, though they are of rarer occur- 

 rence in America than in the ancient continents. In Eu- 

 rope, indeed, we have only a single species (unless the 

 Alcedo Smyrnensis occasionally visits the Grecian shores 

 and those of the Mediterranean islands), but the umbrageous 

 rivers of India are beautified more abundantly by their 

 azure hues. The Asiatic kingfisher {Alcedo Asialica of 

 Swainson*) bears a strong resemblance to the European 

 species, but may be distinguished on closer inspection and 

 comparison by its smaller size, and the somewhat crested 

 form of the occipital plumes. It inhabits the hottest parts 

 of continental India, as well as the great Asiatic islands ; 

 thus differing firom the European species, which is known 

 to brave the cold even of a Siberian winter, and, although 

 not unfrequent along the banks of the comparatively tran- 

 quil streams of England, likewise haunts the snow-descended 

 waters of the Alpine regions. Hence its appropriate intro- 

 duction to a fine apostrophe by a modem poet, — 



" Not to thee, 

 O wild and desert stream 1 belongs this tale. 

 Gloomy and dark art thou,— the crowded firs 



* Zoological Ulustrations, first series, plate 50. 



