166 



THE KINGFISHER. 



necessitj^ of diving for a livelihood. I do not care if 

 thou takest all the eels in the lake. Thou art wel- 

 come to them. I am well aware that thy stomach 

 requires a frequent and a large supply. So, pr'y thee, 

 help thyself. 



NOTES ON THE HABITS OF THE 

 KINGFISHER. 



Perque dies placidos hiberno tempore septem 

 Incubat Haley one pendentibus aequore nidis." 



Ovid. Met^ lib. xi. 



When the delicious season of spring sets in, I often 

 get up into the topmost branches of a wide-spread- 

 ing oak ; and there, taking the Metamorphoses out 

 of my pocket, I read the sorrows of poor Halcyone. 

 A brook runs close by the tree, and on its bank I 

 have fixed a stump for a resting-place to the king- 

 fisher. On it, this pretty bird will tarry for a while 

 in passing up and down, and then plunge into the 

 stream, and bring out a fish. My elevated station 

 on the oak gives me a fine opportunity of admiring 

 its back, as it darts along beneath me. When 

 the sunbeam is upon it, no words can do justice to 

 the beauty of the glowing azure which attracts 

 the eye. 



Modern ornithologists have thought fit to remove 

 the kingfisher from the land birds, and assign it a 

 place amongst the water-fowl. To me the change 

 appears a bad one ; and I could wish to see it 



