9490 Birds. 



I will record, remained with us very much later than I have previously 

 known them. Thus I saw several specimens of both these species 

 (eight and ten together at a time), close to the town of Beverley, during 

 the last week of October. Two or three specimens of 11. rustica were 

 seen by Mr. F. Boyes, of Beverley, on the 7th^of November, hawking 

 over the " Pits" on Westvvood, Beverley. One specimen of H. rustica 

 was seen at Leven, near Beverley, by J. Hudson, gamekeeper, on the 

 14th of November, and was reported to me by himself on the same day ; 

 and one was seen as late as the 21st of November close to the town of 

 Beverley, and flying over the same Pits as those seen by Mr. Boyes on 

 the 7th of November, and by myself in the last week of October. 



Kitn/Ji^her (Alcedo ispida). — The warning voice has already sounded, 

 " Ladies, beware, or your insatiable thirst for variety, fashion and bright 

 feathers will ere long render this charming British bird a rarity." 

 Notice after notice appears in the daily papers, revealing the sad fact 

 that the kingfisher is being shot down by dozens and scores for the 

 sake of its gorgeous plumage, which has become " the thing" amongst 

 fashionable ladies for the hat. Far be it from me to rebuke the gentle 

 daughters of her without whose presence Eden was not perfect. It is 

 the fashion that ensnares them (litlle heeding how its toils too often 

 blight both Nature and themselves) I so deeply regret, and would 

 rebuke. How great a loss to the true lover of Nature the absence or 

 even scarcity of this very "meteor of the stream" would be, I leave 

 ornithologists severally to determine. Fishing by the silent pool, or 

 glancing along the rippling brook, more like a wanderer from some 

 brighter clime than ours, than one of our own native birds, whose 

 songs are usually more attractive than their hues, this truly British 

 bird at once equally attracts, startles and charms all observers. In 

 some parts of Ireland, I believe the kingfisher has long been extremely 

 rare. I recollect, fifteen or sixteen years ago, that my father used to 

 collect several skins each year to send with his annual " Christmas 

 box" to a favourite old boatman at Killarney. This man informed us 

 that it was almost impossible to obtain kingfishers in that locality, and 

 that the beautiful blue feathers of the back and rump are invaluable in 

 the manufacture of salmon-flies, and my own observations would tend 

 to support this man's assertion, as I never saw a kingfisher on lake, 

 river or stream, during a three weeks' tour in Ireland several years ago. 

 In England, however, I never heard of their being particularly scarce 

 until recently, and very much frou) the cause assigned already. In this 

 neighbourhood the kingfisher is still plentiful, and long may it remain 

 with us undisturbed. As an evidence of its comparative numbers in 



