A NATURE RAMBLE IN MALABAR 
45 
mango tree, close to the water’s edge, and settle ourselves in com- 
parative comfort, though, even if one have on a “ topee ” that 
would almost do duty for an umbrella, it is not sufficient to keep 
off the scorching rays of the sun. 
The first to attract our attention is a small and beautiful 
kingfisher almost identical in appearance with his European 
relative, though perhaps a trifle smaller. He skims up the river 
towards us and perches on a dead branch of a sunken tree that 
projects out of the water, and, after giving vent to a few shrill 
notes and jerking his apology of a tail two or three times, settles 
himself down to watch for some unwary victim ; and woe betide 
any small fish that is misguided enough to leave its mother’s 
apron strings and come within reach of that sharp and unerring 
beak. But he is not going to gratify our curiosity by showing off 
his powers as a fisher, as he has seen us and is off, his brilliant 
plumage shining in the sun like polished metal. Why he should 
be so sensitive about being observed I cannot make out, as he 
certainly has nothing to be ashamed of, at least as far as his 
personal appearance is concerned. There are no fishing laws 
here to sanction his destruction as a destroyer of fry, but perhaps 
his conscience (if he have one) tells him that his methods of 
procuring a meal are not altogether sportsmanlike in the eyes of 
a disciple of old Izaak, and that he will be condemned in future 
to dangle a hook with a worm on it from the end of his bill. 
I am afraid his first cousin in England will have to adopt that 
means of earning a livelihood, if not to be ruthlessly shot down 
and exterminated merely because he has the misfortune to have 
a weakness for such dainty morsels as salmon or trout fry. 
But here comes one of his larger and less gaudily painted 
relations, making a noise for all the world like a maniac laughing 
at some diabolical piece of mischief he has perpetrated. This 
bird is not so shy as its more diminutive relative, and is obliging 
enough to settle on a branch overhead and near enough for us 
to examine almost every feather of its plumage. It evidently 
means business, as it has, with unconscious rudeness, turned its 
back on us and, with its big ungainly beak resting on its breast, 
is gazing steadily into the water. 
We will take a mean advantage of its back being turned to 
examine its plumage. It certainly is a handsome bird with its 
shining blue wings and tail, red and white breast and blue head. 
The large beak is not an improvement to its otherwise distingue 
appearance and would — but it is not going to stay to be criti- 
cised, as it has espied an unwary fish in the water beneath, and 
is down like a flash on its luckless victim. The beak may not 
be pretty to look at, but it seldom, if ever, fails to catch its 
slippery prey. The bird has disappeared entirely beneath the 
water, but appears again in a moment with a small fish held 
securely in its bill and struggling helplessly to escape. The fish 
is borne off to a tree some little distance away, to be disposed of 
at leisure by his captor, who seems to take a cruel delight in 
