on the Kingfisher.



51



If after the war there comes a new heaven and a new earth,

let us hope that the interest that has of late years sprung up in wild

life amongst us, will continue to grow, so that many species of birds

will also find a new earth instead of the contents of a cartridge.

We shall surely have had enough of ruthless destruction!


Mr. Pycraft has written of the Kingfisher in ‘ The British

Bird Book’: “Of all our native birds it is one of the most interesting,

“ as it is also one of the most persecuted. It has been the theme of

fables, and of poetry, from time immemorial; for generations it

has been subjected to the desecrations of the milliner and the

“ bird-stuffer, while the malice of the fisherman has been scarcely

“ less malignant; only by the ornithologist has it been neglected.”


“ Some facts in regard to its life-history have been harvested

“ from the raids of the egg-collector ; but of the rest of its economy

“ we know little. We are, however, it is Imped, entering upon a

“ new era in regard to the study of birds.”


Our Kingfisher is the member of a very large family. A

whole monograph, a good-sized volume, has been published.


The smallest Kingfisher known has a length of 3f inches, the

largest, the laughing Jackass of Australia, is 17 inches long. In

some the bill has a hook at the tip, in another species it is serrated

along the cutting edge, whilst in another the beak is short and of

great width. Neither have all Kingfishers the short tail that the

British one has; for one species grows two central tail feathers with

long racquets.


Some eat fish, like the British Kingfisher ; others live in arid

places feeding on lizards, insects and small mammalia.


In colouring too, the species differ considerably, from simple

black and white in one, to blue and white, red and white, green, blue,

and red, etc. in others.


With our own bird, the sexes are barely distinguishable, and

the young in their first plumage, although decidedly duller on fore¬

neck and breast, are almost as brilliant as the adults.


As is well known to most people interested in birds, the King¬

fisher builds in holes in banks of streams and cuttings. Mr. Pycraft

writes : “ The Kingfisher invariably digs for itself, and the mouth of

“ the burrow can be recognised at a glance from that of any other



