AVES— BELTED KINGFISHER. 565 



rich deep blue ; the feet are of a reddish yellow, and the three joints of the 

 utmost toe adhere to the middle toe, while the inner toe adheres only by one. 



From the diminutive size, the slender short legs, and the beautiful colors 

 of this bird, no person would suppose it one of the most rapacious little 

 animals that skims the deep. Yet it is forever on the wing, and feeds on 

 fish, which it takes in surprising quantities, when we consider its size and 

 figure. It chiefly frequents the banks of rivers. There it preys on the 

 smaller fish, and sits frequently on a branch projecting over the current ; 

 there it remains motionless, and often watches whole hours to catch the 

 moment when a little fish springs under its station ; it dives perpendicularly 

 into the water, where it continues several seconds, and then brings up the 

 fish, which it carries to land, beats to death, and then swallows ; but it 

 afterwards throws up the undigestible parts. When this bird cannot find a 

 projecting bough, it sits on some stone near the brink, or even on the gravel; 

 but the moment it perceives the fish, it takes a spring upward, of twelve or 

 fifteen feet, and drops perpendicularly from that height. Often it is observed 

 to stop short in its rapid course, and remain stationary, hovering like a 

 hawk, over the same spot for several seconds. Such is its mode in winter, 

 when the muddy swell of the stream, or the thickness of the ice, constrains 

 it to leave the rivers, and ply along the sides of the unfrozen brooks. In 

 this way it traverses many leagues. While it remains suspended in the air, 

 in a bright day, the plumage exhibits a beautiful variety of the most dazzling 

 and brilliant colors. 



The kingfisher builds its nest by the river-side, in a hole which it burrows 

 out itself, or in the deserted hole of a rat. In these holes, which, from the 

 remains of fish brought there, are very foetid, the kingfisher is often found 

 with from five eggs to nine. There the female continues to hatch, even 

 though disturbed ; and though the nest be robbed, she will again return and 

 lay there. The male, whose fidelity exceeds even that of the turtle, brings 

 her large provisions offish while she is thus employed ; and she, contrary to 

 most other birds, is found plump and fat at that season. 



THE BELTED KINGFISHER.i 



This is a general inhabitant of the banks and shores of all our fresh water 

 rivers from Hudson's Bay to Mexico, and is the only species of its tribe 

 found within the United States. This last circumstance, and its characte- 

 ristic appearance, make it universally known here. Like the love-lorn 

 swains, of whom poets tell us, he delights in xuurmuring streams and falling 

 waters ; not however merely that they may sooth his ear, but for a gratifica- 



* Alcedo alcyon, Lin. 



48 



