﻿The Belted Kingfisher 



By WILLIAM DUTCHER 



President of National Association of Audubon Societies 



Rational association of &ubunon Societies 



EDUCATIONAL LEAFLET NO. 19 



The Kingfishers are a large, interesting and curious family of birds, 

 quite as much so as their relatives, the Cuckoos. They are distributed 

 over the greater part of the globe, and some of the species will repay special 

 study on account of their peculiarities or beauty of plumage. 



Australia possesses a very large species which has such a loud and dis- 

 cordant note that it is commonly known as the 'Laughing Jackass.' It is 

 sometimes brought to this country for exhibition in zoological parks or 

 traveling shows. The common Kingfisher of Europe, with its blue-green 

 upper parts and its rich chestnut breast, is an example of striking and at- 

 tractive plumage. Among the many legends connected with the King- 

 fisher, one tells us that originally all the members of this family were clothed 

 in dull-colored plumage, but the Kingfisher that was liberated from Noah's 

 ark flew toward the setting sun, and on its back was reflected the sky, 

 while its breast was scorched by the rays of the heat-giving orb. Another 

 fable states that Alcyone, daughter of iEolus, grieved so deeply for her 

 husband, who was shipwrecked, that she threw herself into the sea, and 

 was immediately changed into a Kingfisher. 



Pliny says, ''Halcyons lay and sit about Midwinter when daies be short- 

 est; and the time whiles they are broodie is called the halcyon daies: for 

 during that season the sea is calm and navigable." Even now the word 

 halcyon represents calm and peaceful days devoted to pleasant outings in 

 the woods or fields, along the ocean beaches, or paddling up some quite 

 river, all the while learning to know the trees, or wild flowers, and the 

 songs and forms of the birds that are everywhere seen about us. 



Such are the restful days when the school and work are thrown aside 

 and the tired brain and body drink in great draughts of life and vigor. 

 It is then that we see our own Belted Kingfisher, a bird about twelve 

 inches long, perched on some twig overhanging the water. It sits as 

 motionless as though carved from stone until its watchful eye sees a fish in 

 the water below it, when it dives for its prey, disappearing entirely beneath 

 the surface. It rarely ever misses its aim, and on reappearing a wriggling 

 fish is seen held in the bird's powerful mandibles. The feathered fisherman 

 flies directly back to his favorite perch, from which the plunge was made, 

 and, after beating its captive on the limb until it is dead, swallows it head 



(79) 



