PicaricE 



107 



ground, feeding on ants and so forth, and commonly 

 bores its holes in living trees. Heaps of chips may be 

 found below them, which is not usually the case with 

 our other species. 







Kingfisher 



Family ALCEDINID^, or Kingfishers 



Our Kingfisher {Alcedo ispida), which is represented 

 outside of Europe by various closely alHed species, and 

 in it hardly reaches north of the "Baltic, is perhaps the 

 most briUiant of British birds. Not only are its blue, 

 green, and chestnut tints wonderfully beautiful, but it 

 is characterized by a long and enormously strong bill, 



