166 
THE KINGFISHER. 
necessit}'^ 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 Halcyone pendentibus asquore 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 awhile 
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 
