

CHAP. v.J HOW FAR DESTRUCTIVE. 301 



banks, at that point, were naked of trees or shrubs. As 

 he stood quietly watching his float in thje water, a King- 

 fisher darted through the arch of the bridge, and alighted 

 on his rod, as being the readiest pecch. It soon saw by 

 what sort of trunk this taper twig was supported ; but 

 the time of its continuance thereon, though only a mo- 

 ment, was long enough to permit a steady view of the 

 gaudy visitor. One might angle for many years without 

 meeting with a similar accident. An iron railing a few 

 yards from our own windows is occasionally thus occu- 

 pied ; and some spruce firs opposite, whose branches 

 droop over the water, often, when lighted up by the after- 

 noon sunshine, serve as resting-places to the Kingfisher. 

 But its haunts seem to be perpetually changing : some 

 weeks not one is to be seen ; during other short periods 

 they flash every day upon our sight. 



Do Kingfishers make such havoc in our fish-ponds, 

 that they need be persecuted here, as the Water Ouzel 

 is in Scotland ? Some few fry they must of course con- 

 sume ; but while we permit the ravages of Eels, Pike, 

 Herons, Otters, and Seals, it seems an overgrudging 

 seventy to punish the depredations of the Kingfisher, 

 unless indeed his feathery spoils are wanted to set off, 

 by contrast, a case of dull-plumaged stuffed birds, or to 

 prove even more destructive to the finny tribe than be- 

 fore, in the shape of artificial flies. We rather like to 

 see them dipping into our waters, as a proof of the 

 abundance of fry of the current season, and cannot bring 

 our hearts to grudge them their moderate enjoyment of 

 an occasional white-bait dinner. 



But not all admirers of the dazzling tints of the King- 

 fisher have been content with a casual glance, as the 

 bird flits by at perfect liberty : attempts have been made, 



