183 



BRITISH BIRDS 



Kingfisher. 

 Alcedo ispida. 



FIG. 63. KINGFISHER. natural size. 



Back azure -blue ; head and wing- coverts bluish green spotted 

 with azure-blue ; under and behind the eye a reddish band, passing 

 into white, and beneath this a band of azure-green ; wings and tail 

 greenish blue ; throat white ; under parts rusty orange-red. Length, 

 seven and a half inches. 



The kingfisher is by far the most brilliantly coloured bird in the 

 British Islands ; and those who see it living and moving with the 

 sunlight on it can form an idea of the wonderful lustre of many 

 tropical species, which certainly cannot be done by gazing on the 

 labelled pellets of dead and dimmed feathers, called ' specimens,' in 

 cabinets and museums. Unhappily, this rare splendour of the king- 

 fisher, which gives it value, has served only to draw destruction upon 

 it. As Yarrell long ago said, it is persecuted chiefly because of its 

 beauty, and the desire to possess a stuffed specimen in a glass case. 

 It is found in suitable localities throughout Great Britain where it 



