The Australian Kingfisher is a resi- 
dent in New South Wales from August to 
December or January, and then passes to a 
warmer climate. Like the preceding birds, 
it cares little for the presence of water, 
making its subsistence chiefly on large in- 
sects, such as locusts caterpillars, grass- 
hoppers, and cicadse, which it seizes in its 
bill, and beats violently against the ground 
before eating them. It is also very fond of 
small crabs and other crustaceans. Mr. 
Gould mentions that the stomachs of 
Australian Kingfishers that had- been shot 
w r ere found crammed with these creatures. 
To obtain them it is in the habit of frequent- 
ing the sea-shore, and pouncing upon the 
crabs, shrimps, prawns, and various other 
creatures as they are thrown on the strand 
by the retiring tide, or forced to take refuge 
in shallow rock-pools, whence they can 
easily be extracted by the long bill of this 
voracious bird. 
On the banks of the Hunter River this 
Kingfisher resorts to a very curious method 
of obtaining food. There is a kind of ant 
which builds a mud nest upon the dead 
branches and stems of the gum-trees, and by 
the unpractised eye would be taken for fungi 
or natural excresences. The Kingfisher, 
however, knows better, and speedily demo- 
lishes the walls with its powerful beak, for 
the purpose of feeding upon the ants and 
their larvae. 
Like the preceding bird, the Australian Kingfisher is a most noisy creature, 
and remarkably fond of exercising its loud startling cry, which is said to re- 
semble the shriek of a human being in distress, sharp, short, urgent, and 
frequently repeated. There is hardly any real nest in this species, which 
chooses a convenient hollow branch or “ spout ” as its home, and there lays its 
eggs. They are generally from three to five in number, and are of a pure 
white. 
AUSTRALIAN KINGFISHER. 
Halcyon San da. 
