THE KINGFISHERS. 137 



This Kingfisher is found all over India, Burma, and 

 Ceylon, but does not, as a rule, ascend the hills to any 

 height. Outside India it extends from Cyprus to Cochin 

 China and in our limits it is a very common bird, found 

 often in gardens and other places away from water, for it- 

 feeds on many other small creatures besides fish, including 

 earthworms, insects, frogs, and even small birds. It has 

 a slow undulating flight, and when it makes a swoop on a 

 fish comes down in a very half-hearted way, unlike the 

 determined plunge of the regular professional Kingfisher. 

 When taking its tub, however, it will plunge with the 

 best of them. I long knew a bird of this kind which 

 haunted the tank in the Indian Museum grounds, and 

 I regret to say I have known it guilty of piracy, as it 

 took to robbing the dabchicks of the fish they caught. 



This shows the bird objects chiefly to the trouble of 

 catching fish, and he could probably be tamed by 

 throwing out a few live ones for him on the grass. 

 This would be a better way of establishing relations with 

 such a bird than caging it. although, unlike most 

 Kingfishers, it bears confinement very well. My friend, 

 Mr. E. W. Harper, had one for a long time in a ca^e, and 

 it was in the most beautiful condition, but he is an 

 exceptionally keen fancier, and spared no trouble. 



The Kingfisher shows the manner of the origin of 

 species very interestingly. In the Andamans, where it 

 is very common, it is noticeably darker than in India, 

 but similar specimens, chocolate instead of bay, now and 

 then turn up on the mainland. Thus it would seem 

 that the Andamans were originally stocked with a dark 



