290 CEETLE RUDIS. 



round the whole of the east and north coasts it is common ; on the Batticaloa lakes it is especially numerous. 

 I have not observed it on any waters near the base of the hill-zone, nor have I any testimony of its having ever 

 been procured in Dumbara or in other valleys in the upland. 



This is the most widely-distributed of any Kingfisher, being found throughout the greater part of the 

 continents of Asia and Africa. Commencing with India, we find it recorded by all observers as common in all 

 open and well-watered districts, be they inland or skirting the shores of the peninsula. It is plentiful in the 

 south, in the Deccan, in Chota Nagpur, aud lower Bengal, but locally rare about the Sambhur Lake and in 

 Rajpootana, though very abundant further east in Sindh ; it extends to the base of the Himalayas, but does 

 not ascend above the low country, as is the case in South India. Eastward of India it is found throughout 

 Burmah and Tenasserim, extending thence into Siam and northwards into China, in some parts of which it is 

 plentiful and in others rare. Of the latter localities Mr. Swinhoe cites Ningpo as one ; on the Yangtsze, according 

 to him, it does not occur below Szechuen, and this river seems to be its northernmost limit iu China. Capt. 

 Blakiston, however, records it from Hakodadi in Northern Japan. Turning westwards from India, we find 

 Canon Tristram speaking of it as the commonest and most conspicuous Kingfisher iu Palestine, being parti- 

 cularly abundant about Tyre and Sidon, along the shore to Mount Carmel, on the Jordan, and on the lake of 

 Gennesarct. In Asia Minor, Mr. Durnford observed it at the waterfalls of the Cydnus. 



On the sister continent of Africa it is equally well distributed : Captain Shelley and Mr. E. C. Taylor 

 have it as common in Nubia and Egypt; but Mr. Drake does not seem to have observed it in Morocco. On 

 the Gold Coast, again, Captain Shelley with Mr. Buckley met with it, and Governor Ussher writes of it as 

 very common in Fantee generally, and it literally swarms on the river Volta. Messrs. Layard, Shelley, and 

 Buckley all record it from South Africa — the latter gentleman mentioning it as pretty common in Natal, but 

 much more so in the north of the Transvaal. 



As regards Europe, Degland recorded it from Spain; but Mr. Saunders says that he has no authentic 

 information of its occurrence there. Malherbe records it from Sicily. Lindermayer, as quoted by Mr. Sharpe, 

 observes, in his ' Birds of Greece/ that it is found on the islands of Thermia and Mykone, and that Erhardt 

 includes it as a summer visitant to the Cyclades. Demidoff says that it is confined, as regards the Black Sea, 

 to the Sea of Marmora, not being found on the northern coast of the Euxine. 



Habits. — This interesting Kingfisher is not particular in its choice of position, provided a plentiful supply 



of fish exists to tempt its clever fishing-powers ; it certainly avoids rivers and water in forest-country, but 



otherwise it is equally at home on freshwater tanks or lakes, the half-dried leway, the broad and brackish 



estuary, the meadow-lined river or winding canal, the salt lagoon or land-locked bay, or even, in some parts of 



the world, the foaming shore. Although found in all such situations in Ceylon, it is, I think, most partial to 



brackish lagoons or backwaters, whereon it is a most persevering fisher, perching on stakes driven in to assist 



in laying nets or to mark the road across the shallows, or seating itself on some outstanding rock ; thus it is to be 



seen Hying about in the blazing noonday heat when scarcely another bird is abroad, and patiently hovering 



with downward-pointed bill about 30 feet iu the air over some " fishy " spot, until with a sudden plunge it 



captures its well-earned prey and makes off to its favourite perch. It is generally in pairs and is most wary 



and watchful in its nature, starting off long before it is observed, and flying straight away to a place of safety ; 



but when not alarmed it is constantly on the wing, flying up aud down in a restless manner, and uttering its 



querulous quick-repeated note generally while on the wing. In addition to being so shy, it is a bird which 



is exceedingly tenacious of life, flying away more or less no matter how hard it is hit, and even when 



picked up exhausted from its wouuds is hard to deprive of life. It darts invariably on its food from the 



wing, and descends perpendicularly and not in a slanting direction like other Kingfishers. Governor Ussher 



has seen them " hawking over the surf, and picking up waifs and strays brought in by the rollers, or now and 



then pouncing on an uuwary fish." On the shores of the Holy Land, to which these birds resort in immense 



numbers in winter, Canon Tristram observed them "hovering by dozens over the sea about a hundred yards 



from the land, and occasionally perching with loud cries on an outlying rock During the most stormy 



gales of winter they continue, regardless of the weather, to hover over the breakers, ever and anon dashing 

 down into the surf, and apparently diving to the bottom for their prey." I have observed them hover three 



