The Kingi-ishek. a 



pair, or a third specimen, skiniininp;- over tlic ornamental water near West Dulwicli 

 station, on the Chatham and Dover line. In Nortli Kent I have only seen the 

 bird once or twice in very secluded spots ; but in some parts of the Thames it is 

 not particularly rare, and many Ornithologists will probably remember the pride 

 with which the late W. C. Hewitsou used to point to a small hole bored in d 

 tiny artificial islet at the bottom of his grounds at Walton-on-Thames, a.s having 

 on several occasions been occupied by a pair of this species. The egg which Mr. 

 Frohawk has represented (fig. 267) is one from his own collection. 



Owing to its brilliant colouring the Kingfisher is very conspicuous on the 

 wing, and can be seen for a considerable distance ; unhappily its great beauty is 

 a source of danger to the unfortunate bird, which is shot and netted in great 

 numbers every year, many specimens being stuffed,* and set up in glass cases as 

 room ornaments ; or utilized as head adornments by the modern female barbarian ; 

 or lastly in the manufactui-e of artificial flies for fishermen. No wonder that the 

 bird has become somewhat shy. 



It is rather interesting to Avatch a Kingfisher as he sits on his chosen perch 

 over the water intent upon his finny prey, his head sometimes turned a little 

 sidewaj^s, the bod}^ motionless ; suddenly Avith a loud smack he dives into the 

 water, and in a second has emerged with a fish in his bill with which he 

 returns to his perch. At first the fish is held across the middle, and 

 sometimes the bird will hold it thus for a minute or more, then he shifts it so 

 that it is held a little nearer the tail, and bangs it right and left against the 

 perch, exacth' as the South American Sulphur Tyrant does a newt, or as a Red- 

 start treats a caterpillar ; having thus killed it, the Kingfisher usualh* gives it a 

 toss into the air and swallows it head foremost. Until I had seen this for myself 

 I alwaj's supposed that this bird entered the water noiselessl}-, whereas the sound 

 reminded me of nothing more distinctlj" than that produced b}- a bad diver at 

 public baths when he comes flat on the surface — a ver\- nois}- splash indeed.^ 



Although very fond of small fish, these by no means constitute the sole food 

 of the Kingfisher, for it is very fond of tadpoles and water-beetles : moreover, 

 man}- of the small fr}- which are eaten are quite useless for human consumption, 

 so that the bird has been treated with undeserved severity b}- pisciculturists, mam- 

 of whom lose no opportunity of shooting it. 



" The Kingfisher," says Lord Lilford, " is said to be a very earh" breeder, and 



* A. H. Cocks ('Zoologist,' iSgi, p. 154) mentious that a local bird-stuffer bad h.id nearly a hundred sent 

 to him to set up that ^-ear. 



t The bird enters the water obliquely-, aud possibly may not always make so much noise : the splash may 

 be due to the wing striking the water before quite closing: but the action is too sudden to enable one to see 



the exact cause of it. 



