THE BIRDS OF SINGAPORE ISLAND 
frequently met with in the inland districts wherever there is 
water. It can often be seen near the lake in the Botanic 
Gardens. 
field A^cif^j Walk quietly rotind the less frequented 
side of the lake in the Botanic Gardens every evening for a 
week and yon will be very unlucky if you do not meet with one 
of these kint^fishers I 
At one place there are some bamboos overhanj^ing the 
water and a kingfisher can often be seen sitting on these. If 
it is intent on watching the surface of the lake it is possible 
to approach to within a few yards of the bird. When disturbed 
it flashes away very low down over the water to a bush on 
the opposite hank. One glimpses bright blue and rufous and 
perhaps hears a shrill piping call. 
Other habits: — With head bent down this bird sometimes 
hovers over the water, eagerly watching for fish. Its food 
consists, at least very largely, of small' fish. The nest is 
placed at the end of a tunnel made in a bank near the water 
but we have not yet seen a nest in Singapore. 
Very similar to the common kingfisher in appearance is 
the Malayan kingfisher (Alccdo meninting) but this is not 
common enough in Singapore to merit more than a short 
notice. In size it is even smaller than the common species 
(total length about 6 inches, wing 2I inches). The colovir is 
again very like that of A. i. bengalen:sis and it may in fact be 
regarded as a small and very deeply coloured edUion of that 
bird. The upper parts instead of being merely greenish-bkic 
are of the deepest and bri,£»:htest blue imaginable and on the 
undcrparts the bird is quite rufous. 
This very handsome little bird may sometimes be seen near 
the lake in the Botanic Gardens but tt appears to be much 
scarcer than the previous species from which, in the field, it 
can only be distinf^uished by a very sharp eye. 
[lao] 
