V. 



KINGFISHER— ^Zccdo fspida. 



beats it two or three times against the hard substance, and then swallows it without any 

 trouble. 



The Kingfisher is sometimes given to hoarding, and having caught more fish than he 

 can eat, will take them to his secret storehouse, and there hide them until he is able to eat 

 them. In one such case, of which an account has been forwarded to me, the bird seemed 

 to employ its storehouse for the reception of fish which it had caught, and which were too 

 large for it to swallow. The treasury chosen by this individual was a crevice formed by 

 tlie roots of a willow-tree that grew close to the water's edge, and it usually contained 

 one or two fish. Sometimes there would be five or six fishes lying in the hole, and some 

 of them so large that they have been removed and cooked. The bird must sometimes 

 have found a great difficulty in getting its prey fairly ashore, as the tracks were evident 

 on the soft mud of the bank where the fish had been dragged, and the bird's feet had 

 trodden. Young trout were the general occupants of the storehouse, and in every case the 

 fish had been killed by a bite across the back of the head or neck. 



Sometimes the bii-d has been known to meet with a deadly retribution on the part of 

 his prey, and to fall a victim to his voracity. One such example I have seen. A King- 

 fisher had caught a common bull-head, or miller's thumb, a well-known large-headed fish, 

 and on attempting to swallow it had been baftled by the large head, which refused to pass 

 through the gullet, and accordingly choked the bird. The Kingfisher must have been 

 extremely hungry when it attempted to eat so large a morsel, as the fish was evidently of 

 a size that could not possibly have been accommodated in the bird's interior. Several 

 similar examples are known ; but one, which is recorded by Mr. Quekett, is of so 

 remarkable a kind, that it is worthy of notice. The bird had caught and actually 

 attempted to swallow a young dabchick, and, as might be supposed, had miserably failed 

 in the attempt. 



The most complete instance of poetical justice befalling a Kingfisher, is oue which 

 occurred in Gloucestershire, and was related to me by an eye-witness. The narrator was 

 sitting on the bank of a favourite river and watching the birds, fish, and insects that 

 disport themselves upon and in its waters, when some strange blue object was seen 

 floating down the stream, and splashing the water with great vehemence. On a 

 nearer approach it was seen to be a Kingfisher, from whose mouth protruded the tail and 



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