80 BLACK-AND-WHITE KINGFISRBR. 



near the coast, on the European borders of the Mediterranean. In 

 Africa it is most plentiful at the Cape and in Egypt. Swainson 

 considered the Senegal species as distinct, and described it in his 

 "Birds of Africa/' under the name of Ispida hicinta, the Double- 

 collared Kingfisher. It is found rarely, and only accidentally, in 

 Algeria. One specimen only was seen by Mr. Tristram near Jordan, 

 in Southern Palestine. It is stated by Mr. Taylor, in his Egyptian 

 Reminiscences, ("Ibis," vol. i., p. 47,) to be abundant all the way 

 from Alexandria to the First Cataract. In Asia we find it occurring 

 in Turkey, Persia, India, and China, and Mr. Savile Reid informs 

 me that it breeds in the Bermudas. Deputy Surgeon-General 

 Stewart informs me that this bird is "a common species all over 

 India, the Himalayas excepted. It is the only Kingfisher I know 

 which does not seize its prey from a fixed perch, but hovers over 

 it like some of the Terns or the Kestrel. I have several times dug- 

 down to its nest, in the mud banks of rivers. Eggs four or five, 

 white and roundish." 



In its habits it resembles the other Kingfishers, Mr. Taylor (op. 

 cit.) says it is very tame and familiar in Egypt. "The food seems 

 to be entirely fish. I have often watched it hovering over a shallow 

 pool of water, and every now and then darting down and catching 

 fishes, sometimes as much as three or four inches in length. This 

 bird breeds in holes in the banks of the Nile." 



In the colony of Natal, Mr. Gurney ("Ibis," vol. i., p. 245,) informs 

 us that "it frequents the lakes and rivers near the coast; not found 

 in the interior. This bird hovers over the water before darting 

 down, and if not successful flies on further, and hovers again; having 

 caught a fish it files to a bough or a post to swallow it." 



Mr. Swinhoe also, in his very interesting paper on the Ornithology 

 of Amoy, ("Ibis," vol. ii., p. 49,) says that it is "very common on 

 the river, where it is to be found at all seasons; it poises on the 

 wing at a height above the water, and drops suddenly down to 

 catch its prey. I have however seen it strike obliquely, when flying 

 close to the surface of the water." 



Like other Kingfishers this bird makes a nest in the holes of 

 banks of rivers, and lays four or five eggs, which are white, glossy, 

 and nearly round. 



The plumage of the Black-and- White Kingfisher is very difficult 

 to describe minutely, as almost each feather, as Swainson remarks, is 

 varied in a different manner. 



The male in breeding plumage has the crown of the head and its 

 crest black, with longitudinal streaks of white; all the rest of the 



