138 GARDEN AND AVIARY BIRDS. 



then turn up on the mainland. Thus it would seem 

 that the Andamans were originally stocked with a dark 

 strain, or that the conditions of life there are easier for 

 dark birds. It only needs the disappearance of the dark 

 complexion among Indian specimens to establish the 

 Andaman Kingfisher as a species, whereas now it has 

 to rank as a variety only. 



The White-breasted Kingfisher breeds from March to 

 July and differs from other Kingfishers in occasionally 

 making a rough nest of moss. But the birds that do this 

 must be constructive geniuses of an uncommon kind 

 for the ordinary squalid burrow is good enough for most 

 of them. When courting they lift up their tails and 

 droop their wings, showing off the white patch. At this 

 time, too, they fly wildly about, uttering a peculiar 

 wailing cry, whereas in the ordinary way their flight is 

 direct, and announced in a most business-like way by an 

 abominably harsh cackle ; for this Kingfisher seems to 

 think that his movements are of importance in local 

 feathered society, and always gives due warning when 

 he is making a change of quarters. 



THE HOOPOES. 



The Hoopoes are a small family of birds widely dis- 

 tributed over the Old World. They are all very much 

 alike, having pale brown plumage with the wings and 

 tail black-and-white, and their long thin bill and fan- 

 like crest will always distinguish them from other birds, 

 especially as the plumage does not differ with age and 

 sex. The crest is ordinarily kept folded down and then 



