﻿This species I consider to be distinct from H. sanctiis, which it represents in New Zea- 

 land. It is always of a more robust size, and has the colours much less bright. Professor 

 Schlegel and Dr. Finsch, however, unite it to the before -mentioned bird. 



Until a recent period we knew little about the habits of the New Zealand Kingfisher. 

 Layard (I.e.) says that it is " common throughout the Northern Island ; it fishes equally 

 in salt and fresh water, and devours also grasshoppers and Gryllae of all kinds, caterpillars, 

 moths, and butterflies." Capt. Hutton, writing from Epsom, in the Province of Auckland, 

 on the 11th of January, 1867, observes: — "In the winter the Kingfisher lives about the 

 town, and often eats insects in the fields: the first bird I saw on landing was one in the 

 barrack square; now they are all by the river, breeding." The last-named Naturalist 

 obtained it on Great Barrier Island, and Dr. Haast also procured it on Bank's Peninsula. 

 The above-mentioned notices comprise, I believe, all that was known concerning the present 

 species up to a recent date. 



We are, however, indebted to Mr. T. H. Potts for a very complete account of its 

 nesting-habits (I.e.): — 



"One of our burrowing species. The tunnel-like hole which forms the approach to its 

 nest is found sometimes in a bank, and perhaps quite as often in a tree. On examining one 

 of these holes in a bank not far from the sea-beach, the floor or bottom was observed to 

 incline slightly upwards from the entrance ; the eggs, deposited on the remains of Crustacea, 

 being not more than one foot back from the outside of the hole. When a tree has been 

 selected for its house, we have been led sometimes to the discovery by observing the quantity 

 of chips lying beneath ; its powerful bill soon excavates a nesting-place in the partially- 

 decayed wood. The situation varies from a few feet to above thirty feet from the ground. 

 The eggs are pure glossy white, delicate and very beautiful, more fragile, perhaps, than 

 those of most other species, oval in shape, with a length of 1 inch ^ line by a breadth of 

 10g lines. After hatching, the nest is carefully cleared of the broken shells. The young 

 remain in the nest till well fledged and apparently almost full-grown. On examining the 

 castings of the Kingfisher, which are often to be met with in abundance near a nest con- 

 taining young, Ave have observed that the external wing-cases of Coleoptera have formed one 

 of the principal ingredients of the pellets. We have noted that a nest from which the 

 young emerged late in November, again contained eggs in January. Our Halcyon must lay 

 a much smaller number of eggs than the English Kingfisher. Although this bird may be 

 constantly seen occupying some prominent branch or stake when watching for its prey 

 (which, by the way, is of a very miscellaneous character), yet, when approaching or leaving 

 its nest, it always, where possible, seeks the screen of overhanging trees as it swiftly darts 

 through the gull}', permitting but a glance of its bright showy feathers. Should any one 

 approach too close to the neighbourhood of its breeding-hole, the parent bird utters a low 

 cry, like cree-cree-cree, frequently repeated. Our bird is much more sociable than its Euro- 

 pean relative, which is so remarkable for its solitary habits that it has been stated that the 

 male and female only associate together at the breeding season. We have counted as many 

 as eight of our Kingfisher sitting together, and after a heavy rain we have observed on our 

 lawn several of the croquet-hoops occupied at one time by these striking-looking birds. It 

 is rarely to be seen on the ground; after darting down, either in the water or on land, and 

 securing its booty, it immediately flies with it to some perch or post of vantage and prepares 

 it for deglutition by administering some smart blows with its bill, the sound of which may 

 often be distinctly heard. During the breeding-season it indulges in a monotonous call of 

 (hi i-up, chimps chirup, then a pause — the call and pause alternating for a considerable time. 

 Fish, crustacca, young birds, mice, coleoptera, bees, and other insects, furnish some portion 

 of the food-supply of the Kingfisher ; we have often noticed its rapid dart at a brood of 

 young chickens. This bird is one of those fortunate species whose numbers seem rather to 

 increase than diminish at the approach of civilization.'' 



The description of the adult is taken from the oldest specimen I could find in the 

 British Museum, that of the young bird being from one of Dr. Haast's specimens given me 

 by Dr. Finsch. The plate is drawn from the same birds. 



