58 



The Greeks celebrated this h'wd by the name of 

 Alcyon, OY Halcyon; the epithet y^/cyo^iiftw was appli- 

 cable by them to the four days before and after the 

 winter solstice, when the sun shone brilliantly, the sky 

 serene, and the sea smooth and tranquil. It was then 

 the timorous mariners of antiquity ventured to lose 

 sight of shore, and shape their course on the glassy 

 main. The King-fisher is the most esteemed of Bri- 

 tish birds for the brilliancy of its colours. It nestles 

 on the banks of rivers and brooks, in holes made by 

 water-rats. Gessner observes, that it can never be 

 tamed, and that it is always wild. Its flesh has the 

 odour of bastard musk, and is very unpalatable food ; 

 its fat is reddish; its stomach roomy and flaccid, as 

 in birds of prey ; and like them too it discharges by 

 the bill the undigested fragments, scales, and bones, 

 rolled into little balls. 



In the same Case are a few of Jaccmiars (Galbula), 

 the plumage of some of which partakes of the metallic 

 lustre of the Humming Bird. 



BEE-EATERS (MEROPS). 



The birds of this genus are mostly natives of the 

 Old Continent, few being found in America; but the 

 discovery of New Holland has brought us acquainted 

 with a number of species that were unknown to us be- 

 fore. Their general food is said to be insects, and 



