EXOTIC BIRDS FOR BRITAIN 177 



beautiful ornaments of the waterside, and a per- 

 petual delight to all lovers of rural nature, includ- 

 ing anglers. It may be remarked in passing, that 

 the waste of food, in the present disorganized 

 state of nature, is not only in our streams. 



The introduction of one or more of these 

 lovely foreign kingfishers would not certainly 

 have the effect of hastening the decline of our 

 native species; but indirectly it might bring about 

 a contrary result — a subject to be touched on at 

 the end of this paper. Practical naturalists may 

 say that kingfishers would be far more difficult to 

 procure than other birds, and that it would be 

 almost impossible to convey them to England. 

 That is a question it would be premature to dis- 

 cuss now ; but if the attempt should ever be made, 

 the difficulties would not perhaps be found in- 

 superable. In all countries one hears of certain 

 species of birds that they invariably die in cap- 

 tivity; but when the matter is closely looked into, 

 one usually finds that improper treatment and not 

 loss of liberty is the cause of death. Unquestion- 

 ably it would be much more difficult to keep a 

 kingfisher alive and healthy during a long sea- 

 voyage than a common seed-eating bird; but the 



