PERCHING BIRDS. 159 



but not subsequently. Could this have been a late- , 

 hatched bird which had not migrated ? I should hardly / 

 be inclined to entertain such a supposition ; for where 

 could it have found caterpillars, grasshoppers, and other 

 summer insects, which are its chief food, to support it 

 through the winter ? I am more disposed to think it 

 was an unusually early arrival, and that, as it was not 

 heard again, it most likely perished from cold and want 

 of food. 



None of our birds can boast of more beautiful plumage 

 than the little Kingfisher (Alcedo ispida) ; the glossy 

 metallic blues and greens with which it is adorned seem 

 to belong more to the parrots, trogons, and other species 

 peculiar to warm or tropical countries. Indeed, when I 

 watch the rapid flight of a kingfisher, it always reminds 

 me strongly of some of the Australian parrakeets, espe- 

 cially the Lathamus discolor, the metallic colours of 

 whose plumage show most brilliantly during their glanc- 

 ing flight, particularly when the sun is shining. 



The kingfisher is constantly to be seen, and yet is not 

 an abundant species with us. The two small streams, 

 the Morn and the Idle, which intersect our forest dis- 

 trict, are very favourable to its habits and requirements ; 

 but though it delights to seek its food in secluded spots, 

 it does not confine itself to such, and I have repeatedly 

 seen several glancing up and down the stream which 

 runs past the village, and darting through the arches of 

 the bridge as I stood on it. I have even taken its eggs 

 from a hole in the bank of the stream within a stone- 

 throw of some houses, and of my own garden. 



The nest of the kingfisher is another of those questions 

 on which naturalists have greatly differed, and I know 

 not that my own observations have enabled me to throw 



