Nest, &c. 
General 
descrip- 
tion. 
122 ALCYONES. ALCEDO.  Kine’s-Fisuer. 
ing of the hole is always diagonally upwards, and it pierces 
two or three feet into the bank.—The nest is composed of 
the above-mentioned pellets of fish-bones, ejected into a small 
cavity at the farther end of this retreat, and upon which the 
eggs are laid, to the number of six or seven, of a transparent 
pinkish-white. Monracvu remarks, that the hole in which 
they breed is not fouled by the castings of the old birds, but 
becomes so by the droppings of the brood, which, being of 
a watery nature, cannot be carried away by the parents, as 
is usual with most small birds. Instinct has therefore taught 
them to make the hole in a sloping direction, in order to car- 
ry away the offensive matter, which may frequently be seen 
issuing from the entrance of this passage to the nest. 
The young, when nearly fledged, are very voracious, and 
often reveal their habitation by their continued cry. 
Attempts have been sometimes made to rear the King’s-- 
fisher in a state of confinement, but without success; as it 
will not live without a full supply of fresh fish, which it is 
difficult to procure at all seasons. Worms have been tried 
as a substitute, but without answering the intended purpose. 
For an account of the poetic fictions, and stories of earlier 
times relating to the Halcyon, my readers are referred to 
PENNANT’s account of this bird, in his British Zoology. 
This is the only species of an extensive genus that is found 
in Europe, throughout: which it is generally dispersed ; and 
it differs in no respect from the same bird in Asia and Afri- 
ca, as I have had an opportunity of examining specimens 
from both Continents. 
Pirate 40. Fig. 1. Natural size. 
Bill blackish-brown, reddish at the base. Behind each 
eye is a patch of light orange-brown, succeeded by a 
white one. From each corner of the under mandible 
proceeds a streak of verditer-blue, tinged with verdi- 
gris-green. Crown of the head deep olive-green, the 
feathers tipped with verdigris-green. From the nape of 
