BLUE-BACKED BIRDS. 



KINGFISHER. — Plate 56. Length, 7i inches. 

 Bill very stout, much longer than the head and 

 tapering to a point, orange at base, remainder black ; 

 upper parts brilliant metallic blue, as also a band 

 reaching from the shoulder to the base of the bill 

 and enclosing a patch reddish about the eye and 

 white on the sides of the neck ; throat white ; 

 under parts ruddy-orange ; feet red. Resident. 



Eggs. — 6—8, sometimes more, rounded at both ends, 

 pure glossy-white ; '9 x '75 inch (plate 126). 



Nest. — A bedding of fish-bones at the end of a 

 hole bored in the bank of a stream or in a sand- 

 bank, usually near water. 



Distribution. — England and Wales generally ; Scot- 

 land and Ireland rarer and more local. 



The chief distinguishing feature of the Kingfisher 

 is its colour, a blaze of brilliant blue such as to call 

 forth exclamation from the least interested observer 

 as the bird flashes past in the sunlight. There is 

 nothing like it among British birds with which it may 

 be confounded ; and if the bird cants in flight, it offers 

 a second criterion, a glimpse of the ruddy-orange under 

 parts. The Kingfisher is to be looked for in the 

 neighbourhood of water, the nest being placed in a 

 tunnel excavated in the bank of a stream, or in some 

 natural hollow in a similar situation. The bird has 

 fixed perching-places, a dead bough or similar pro- 



