Kingbird. Bee-Martin 



Bee-keepers accuse the kingbird of a taste for honey- 

 bees, but examination shows that the charge is unfounded. 

 Only fourteen out of two hundred and eighteen stomachs 

 contained remains of bees, most of which were drones, 

 while sixty per cent, of the kingbird's food was found 

 to consist of injurious insects. 



CHAPMAN. Handbook of Birds. 21 



KINGFISHER, BELTED 



This bird is the celebrated Halcyon of the ancients, 

 who attributed to it supernatural powers. It was supposed 

 to construct its nest upon the waves, where it was made 

 to float like a vessel at anchor. But as the turbulence 

 of the storm would be likely to destroy it, Nature has 

 gifted the sitting birds with the power of stilling the motion 

 of the winds and waves during the period of incubation. 

 The serene weather that accompanies the summer solstice 

 was believed to be the enchanted effect of the benign 

 influence of this family of birds. Hence the name Halcyon 



days was applied to this period of tranquillity 



Some of the Asiatic nations still wear the skin of the king- 

 fisher about their persons as a protection against moral 

 and physical evils. The feathers are used as love-charms; 

 and it is believed if the body of a kingfisher be evenly 

 fixed upon a pivot, it will turn its head to the north like 

 the magnetic needle. 



FLAGG. A Year With the Birds. 26 



85 



