104 BOMBAY DUCKS 
the little flock sees danger and flies off; the flash of 
the white in his wings attracts the attention of his com- 
panions, and they follow him without knowing why they 
are flying away. But the white-breasted kingfisher is 
not a gregarious bird, hence in his case the white bar 
cannot have this meaning. 
It has been suggested that it serves as a recognition 
mark, a mark whereby the male and female can dis- 
tinguish one another from other kinds of kingfishers, 
This may be so, but it seems to me that, if the kingfisher 
has any difficulty in recognizing his wife, and I am far 
from asserting that he has, his difficulty would be in 
distinguishing her, not from a bird of another species, 
but from others of her own kind. 
The white-breasted kingfisher is an organism full of 
interest to the zoologist, since it appears to be under- 
going evolution before our very eyes. Those who do 
not believe in the theory of evolution—and there are 
still some persons who do not—urge as an objection to 
the theory that they see no signs of changing structure 
in the animals round about them ; these are apparently 
fixed and stable, and not undergoing any modification. 
It is true that Nature does not work in a hurry, that 
most of the alterations which are being effected are 
coming about so slowly as to be imperceptible to human 
eyes. There are, however, exceptions, and the white- 
breasted kingfisher is one of them. 
The proper hunting ground for a kingfisher is ob- 
viously water of.some description or other, but this 
particular species is often found far away from water. 
It is one of the common birds of our gardens, and is 
