CHAPTER V. 



KINGFISHERS. 



Halcyon of the ancients; what ? Aldrovandi's figures and descriptions. Nest 

 of Halcyon. Haunts and habits of the Kingfisher. Anecdote. How far de- 

 structive to fish. To procure young birds. To rear and feed them. Captive 

 Kingfishers. Mr. Rayner's aviary. Diet and habits of Kingfishers there. 

 Mode of eating. Their pugnacity. Destructiveness of a Heron. Unsociability 

 of Kingfishers. Management in a captive state. African Kinghunters. 

 Australian Kingfishers. The Laughing Jackasses. 



"HALCYON is rendered a Kingfisher, a bird commonly 

 known among us, and by Zoographers and Naturals 

 the same is named Ispida, a well-coloured bird, fre- 

 quenting streams and rivers, building in holes of pits, 

 like some Martins, about the end of the Spring; in 

 whose nests we have found little else than innumerable 

 small fish-bones, and white round eggs of a smooth and 

 polished surface, whereas the true Alcyon is a Sea-Bird, 

 makes a handsome nest floating upon the water, and 

 breedeth in the Winter."* 



Some learning has been bestowed to ascertain whether 

 Halcyon should be spelt with or without the H ; leaving 

 the matter much where it was. Sir Thomas Brown, in 

 the above quotation, uses it both ways, and so makes 

 sure in being right in one place, and of obliging equally 

 those country-folks who can, and those Cockneys who 

 cannot, pronounce the aspirate. Aldrovandi thought 

 that it was a song bird, and hoped it would not complain 



* Sir Thomas Brown, Tracts, IV. 



