200 BIRDS OF THE DISTRICT OF GEELONG 
particular point of interest which has not yet been 
thoroughly elucidated is, how far north do these 
birds go — if they all go to the same region ? And 
it will be seen that it lies probably with Queensland 
ornithologists to answer that question. 
Of this group of birds we may well take the Sacred 
Kingfisher as typical. Why, by the way, it is called 
Sacred I do not know ; it is, of course, a mere transla- 
tion of the specific name sanctus, but Vigors and 
Horsfield alone, who named the bird, could tell us 
what prompted them to do so. The name has 
probably stuck from its sheer meaninglessness. 
Some clear memory of their breeding-places must 
persist in the Kingfishers, for we find them continually 
returning to the same spots in this district, while 
others seemingly just as suitable are left unvisited. 
The Blue Kingfisher, as we saw, is true to his 
name ; he lives largely on fish and never leaves the 
riverside. The Laughing Jackass has completely 
abandoned any fishing habits his ancestors may have 
had, and chooses his residence quite irrespectively 
of whether there is water in the neighbourhood or 
not. Standing midway between his relatives, the 
Sacred Kingfisher, while he does not eat fish, yet 
retains some trace of his descent from birds which 
did so, in that he usually resorts in the breeding- 
season to a locality where there is either standing 
or running water. His one necessity is a choice of 
trees of a sufficient size to contain hollows suitable for 
nesting. 
