27 



on the tender shoots of plants; and the bronze-wing (Phaps chalcop- 

 tera) and harlequin pigeon (Phistrionica) just take an evening sip 

 of the muddy pool they have flown so far to taste, and are off 

 again to their parching haunts, after having only just wetted their 

 bill:" and Captain Sturt remarks, "It is astonishing indeed that so 

 small a quantity as a bare mouthful, should be sufficient to quench 

 their thirst in the burning deserts they inhabit." 



Mr. Darwin, in his "Journal of the Voyage of the Beagle," page 

 2, says, " It had not now rained for an entire year in St. Jago. 

 The broad, flat-bottomed valleys, many of which serve during a 

 few days only in the season as water-courses, are clothed with 

 thickets of leafless bushes. Few living creatures inhabit these 

 valleys. The commonest bird is a kingfisher (Dacelo Jagoensis) 

 which tamely sits on the branches of the castor-oil plant, and 

 thence darts on grasshoppers and lizards. It is brightly -coloured, 

 but not so beautiful as the European species; in its flight, manner, 

 k and place of habitation, which is generally in the driest valleys, 

 there is also a wide difference," 



Mr. Goold, too, in his very beautiful work on the "Birds of 

 Australia," to which reference may be made either at the Museum 

 of Natural History or the Public Library, speaks of kingfishers 

 which appear to be endowed with the power of sustaining and 

 •enjoying life, without -the least supply of water, and believes too 

 that it is not essential to their existence. 



Strange indeed, as Mr. Dixon remarks,* "that amongst creatures 

 so closely allied, and. bearing such a striking family resemblance as 

 the kingfishers do to each other, one species, our own (Alcedo 

 hispida) should be almost bound to the vicinity of brooks and 

 streams; whilst others, equally occupying their allotted place in 

 creation, and fulfilling the office assigned to them by Providence, 

 should be able, in order to perform that task, to dispense with what 

 is usually considered the necessary element of water, except just the 

 few thimblesful of liquid contained in their living prey, that are 

 .absolutely requisite to keep their animal fluids circulating. 



* ''Dovecote and Aviary," page 310. 



