CLASS II. AVES: ORDER 2. PASSERES. 



97 





BELTED KINGFISHERS. 



habiting the banks of small streams, and perching upon the branches of trees overhanging the 

 water, to watch for its finny prey, stictle-backs and minnows forming the greater part of its ordi- 

 nary meal. For the purpose of breeding it takes possession of a hole in the bank formed by some 

 burrowing animal, and adapts it to its use ; here it appears to resort to disgorge the bones of the 

 fishes which it has swallowed, for the floor of the holes frequented by it is always found covered 

 with these remains, and it is upon them that the female lays her eggs. These are usually from 

 five to seven in number, and of a delicate pinkish-white color. Among the ancients the most ex- 

 traordinary ideas were entertained with regard to the nests of the kingfisher, and these crept into 

 the writings of the older English poets. It was believed that the bird made a floating nest on 

 the sea, and that during the period that she was engaged in hatching her eggs, the water always 

 remained so smooth and calm that the mariner might venture on his voyage without danger of 

 being exposed to any of the perils of the deep; in fact, some of the ancient writers attributed to 

 this little bird the power of allaying the violence of the waves. The period of incubation was 

 accordingly known as the '■'•Halcyon days!!'' and the same term is still often employed metaphori- 

 cally to express any period of uninterrupted happiness. Some of the modern superstitions con- 

 nected with the kingfisher are scarcely less curious : it has been supposed that if the body of the 

 bird is suspended by the bill its breast will always indicate the north ; that when suspended and 

 accurately balanced, its bill will always point in the direction of the wind, although the bird may 

 be kept in-doors ; and that the possession of its head and feathers furnishes a protection against witch- 

 craft, a security for fair weather at sea, and a certain means of securing the afi"ections of a coy or 

 disdainful sweetheart. These superstitions still hold their ground in some parts of Great Britain. 



Genus CERYLE : Ceryle. — This includes various species in difibrent parts of the world, and 



Vol. II. — 13 



