172 BRITISH AND EUROPEAN BIRDS. 



The Plover ( ,4 ), the Golden, his whistle loud blew; 

 And the DoTTERELand Sanderling pass'cl in review. 



Europe, Asia, and Africa. Drayton has well characterized 

 this bird : 



" Long leav'd willow, on whose bending spray 

 The py'd King's fisher, having got his prey, 

 Sate with the small breath of the waters shaken, 

 Till he devour'd the fish that he had taken." 



Man in the Moon. 

 The Halcyon was feigned by the poets to breed in the sea, and 

 that there was always a calm during her incubation ; hence the 

 term halcyon has been used poetically to imply placidity, quiet: 

 " As firm as the rock, and as calm as the flood, 



Where the peace loving halcyon deposits her brood." 



Cooper. 

 This bird is rarely, if ever, found near the habitations of man; 

 it prefers remote and solitary places for its abode. 



The Formosa or Splendid King-fisher is the most beauti- 

 ful of the genus, with tail short, body yellowish green ; shoul- 

 ders, throat, and rump, yellow; wings and crown blue; bill 

 yellowish horn-colour ; head with a bright yellow stripe on each 

 side; smaller wing coverts edged with yellow; legs reddish 

 brown ; a native of South America. 



The Purpurea, or Purple King-fisher ;— the Alcyon, or 

 Belted King-fisher, of which there are four varieties;— the 

 Chlorocephala, or Green-headed King-fisher ;— and the 

 Cristata, or Crested King-fisher, of which there are two 

 varieties, are all that we can notice. 



( I4 ) Order, Grall^e, {Linn.) Plover, Dotterel, 

 Sanderling, &c. 



The genus Charadrius, {Linn.) or Plover, comprehends 

 above forty species, chiefly inhabitants of Europe and America, of 

 which some are gregarious, some solitary. They have a roundish 



