THE KINGFISHER. 167 



our ancestors had placed it ; for there seems to be 

 nothing in its external formation which can warrant 

 this arbitrary transposition. The plumage of the 

 kingfisher is precisely that of the land bird, and, of 

 course, some parts of the skin are bare of feathers ; 

 while the whole body is deprived of that thick coat 

 of down so remarkable in those birds which are 

 classed under the denomination of water- fowl. Its 

 feet are not webbed ; its breast-bone is formed 

 like that of land birds ; and its legs are ill calculated 

 to enable it to walk into the water. Thus we see 

 that it can neither swim with the duck, nor dive 

 with the merganser, nor wade with the heron. Its 

 act of immersion in the water is quite momentary, 

 and bears no similarity to the immersion of those 

 water-fowl which can pursue their prey under the 

 surface, and persevere for a certain length of time, 

 till they lay hold of it. Still the mode of taking its 

 food is similar to that of the gulls, which first see 

 the fish, and then plunge into the deep to obtain it; 

 but this bird differs from the gull in every other 

 habit. 



You observe the kingfisher sitting on a rock, or 

 upon the branch of a tree, or hovering over the 

 water ; and the moment a fish is seen in the stream 

 below, it drops down upon it like a falling stone. 

 If it miss the mark, which is rarely the case, it 

 comes up again immediately, without further exer- 

 tion in the water, and then flies off, or occasionally 

 regains its former station in order to make another 

 plunge. As this process of immersion is of very 

 short duration, the bird is enabled to escape with 



M 4' 



