196 BIRDS OF THE DISTRICT OF GEELONG 
AZURE OR WATER KINGFISHER 
Alcyone azure a victorice 
This is the rarest and most beautiful of our three 
Kingfishers. It is non-migratory, and if you find it 
anywhere, you may be sure it will breed in the vicinity. 
It is likely that, in the early days of Geelong, this 
species abounded along all our rivers ; nowadays I 
doubt if it would be possible to find it nearer than 
Airey's Inlet, although it is not so many years since 
I saw a Blue Kingfisher on the Moorabool at Batesford. 
The upper surface is ultramarine blue, under 
surface brownish orange, the colours being more vivid 
than those of the Sacred Kingfisher, with which it 
might at first sight be confused. But the habits of 
the two species differ greatly : this bird never leaves 
the sides of fresh-water streams, and its flight is low, 
following the course of the stream, and indeed almost 
skimming the surface ; whereas the Sacred Kingfisher 
may be found at a considerable distance from water, 
and perches often-times high on forest trees. The 
Blue Kingfisher's favourite post is on a small bare 
bough jutting out from a steep creek-bank and over 
the water ; thence it darts down upon little fish 
or other aquatic creatures that swim close to the 
surface, and returning devours them there. When 
startled it flies along the stream like a flash of blue, 
to take up a like position a little farther on, uttering 
in flight a shrill compressed twitter. 
