KINGFISHER 115 
but having been destroyed by moths, is not now in 
existence. 
Common in south-eastern England, the species decreases 
towards the north and west; in Cumberland and Lancashire, 
where it was once well known, it has become rare. Few 
have occurred in Galloway, and very few have been obtained 
in Ireland, chiefly at lighthouses, one being procured at 
Rockabill in 1896. Stray specimens, however, have reached 
Orkney and Shetland, in one case even the remote Foula. 
ALCEDO ISPIDA, Linn. KINGFISHER. 
Forbes described the Kingfisher in Man as ‘not scarce if 
sought for, and this probably is still an accurate description 
of its status, though in 1858 the sixth edition of Quiggins’s 
Guide had altered the above remark to ‘scarce. Though 
little known, and its breeding never recorded, there can be 
scarcely a doubt that, as Mr. Kermode states, the species is 
‘resident in small numbers throughout the island.’ It is to 
be remarked, however, that definite records of specimens 
obtained belong almost entirely to the winter months. 
I have notes of the Kingfisher from many localities, Mr. 
Adams says that in the neighbourhood of Douglas the bird 
is constantly to be seen on certain stream sides, it has been 
obtained by the Silverburn, where also, in the vicinity of 
Ballasalla, Mr. W. C. Cubbon has often observed it, and on 
a field ditch near Ronaldsway, and seen on the Poolvash 
stream. In the autumn of 1902 one was found dead near 
Kentraugh. In the winter of 1894-95 one was procured at 
Ballawillan, near the Neb. Mr. Wm. Kermode has several 
times procured and heard of it in the Peel district, and Mr. 
