432 HISTORY OF 



exliibits in its form the beautiful plumage of the peacock, the 

 shadings of the humming-bird, the bill of the crane, and the short 

 legs of the swallow. The bird I mean is the King-fisher, of 

 which many extraordinary falsehoods have been propagated ; and 

 yet of which many extraordinary things remain to be said that 

 are actually true. 



The King -fisher is not much larger than a swallow; its shape 

 is clumsy; the legs disproportionably small, and the bill dispro- 

 portionably long : it is two inches from the base to the tip ; the 

 upper chap black, and the lower yellow : but the colours of this 

 bird atone for its inelegant form ; the crown of the head and the 

 coverts of the wings are of a deep blackish green, spotted with 

 bright azure ; the back and tail are of the most resplendent azure ; 

 the whole under-side of the body is orange-coloured ; a broad 

 mark of the same passes from the bill beyond the eyes ; beyond 

 that is a large white spot ; the tail is short, and consists of twelve 

 feathers of a rich deep blue ; the feet are of a reddish yellow, and 

 the three joints of the outmost toe adhere to the middle toe, 

 while the inner toe adheres only by one. 



From the diminutive size, the slender short legs, and the 

 beautiful colours of this bird, no person would be led to suppose 

 it one of the most rapacious little animals that skims the deep. 

 Yet it is for ever on the wing, and feeds on fish, which it takes 

 in surprising quantities, when we consider its size and figure. It 

 chiefly frequents the banks of rivers, and takes its prey after the 

 manner of the osprey, balancing itself at a certain distance above 

 the water for a considerable space, then darting into the deep, 

 and seizing the fish with inevitable certainty. While it remains 

 suspended in the air, in a bright day, the plumage exhibits a 

 beautiful variety of the most dazzling and brilliant colours. It 

 might have been this extraordinary beauty that has given rise to 

 fable ; for whenever there is any thing uncommon, fancy is al- 

 ways willing to increase the wonder. * 



» Montague, in his Ornithological Dictionary, says, that they never sus- 

 pend themselves on the wing, and dart on their prey, like the osprey ; but 

 that they sit patiently on a bough over the water, and when a small fish 

 comes near the surface, they dart on it, and seize it with their bill. He 

 never could observe the old birds with any thing in their bills, when they 

 went in to feed their young : from which he concludes that they eject it 

 from their stomachs for this purpose. 



