ROLLERS, KINGFISHERS, HORNBILLS, AND HOOPOES 105 
the tunnel approaching it ; later, fish brought for the young, but dropped on the way, and 
the fluid excreta of the parents are added, forming a dripping, fetid mass swarming with 
maggots. The young, on leaving the nest, are at first tenderly fed and cared for by the 
parents, but towards the end of the summer seem to- be driven away to seek new fishing- 
grounds for themselves. 
Of the many legends that have grown up around this bird, some are well worth repeating. 
Specially interesting is one related by Professor Newton on the authority of the French 
naturalist Rolland. This has it that the kingfisher was originally a plain grey bird, and 
acquired its present bright colours by flying towards the sun on its liberation from Noah’s 
ark, when its upper-surface assumed the hue of the sky above it, and its lower plumage was 
scorched by the heat of the setting sun to the tint it now bears. Not a few virtues were 
also attributed to this bird. Its dried body would, it was believed, avert thunder-bolts, or, 
kept in a wardrobe, preserve from moths the woollen stuffs contained therein, whilst, hung 
by a thread from the ceiling of a room, it would serve like the more conventional weather- 
cock to point the direction of the prevailing wind. 
Persecuted though it is, the kingfisher is by no means a rare bird in England, and 
those who will may generally see it by the banks of some slowly flowing stream or lake, 
or even shallow brook, sometimes even by the seashore. It feeds upon small aquatic insects 
and Crustacea and small fishes, sometimes even, it is said, upon leeches. Perched on some 
bough overhanging the water, or stump or railing on the bank, it watches patiently, silent 
and motionless. The moment its prey comes within striking distance it plunges down upon it, 
disappearing for a moment beneath the surface, to appear’ the next with its capture in its 
beak. If this be a fish, it is held crosswise, and borne upwards to the station from which 
the plunge was made, there to be stunned by a few sharp blows, tossed into the air, 
dexterously caught, and swallowed head-foremost. At times, however, perhaps when hunger 
presses, more activity in the capture of food is displayed, the bird hovering suspended over 
the water, after the custom of the kestrel-hawk. 
Although essentially fish-eating birds, a considerable number live far removed from water, 
obtaining a livelihood by the capture of insects in forest regions, whilst some appear to feed 
mainly on reptiles! These are known as Wood-kingfishers, to distinguish them from the Water- 
kingfishers, the typical member of which group has been just described. 
Of Wood-kingfishers, 
or Kinghunters, as they are 
also called, the most beautiful 
are the Racket-tailed King- 
fishers, so called from the 
fact that the two middle tail- 
feathers' are produced into 
two long rods, terminating in 
a spoon-shaped enlargement. 
Although represented by no 
less than twenty distinct 
species, they have a somewhat 
limited range, being found 
only in the Moluccas, New 
Guinea, and Northern Aus- 
tralia. One of the hand- 
somest of all is the one 
occurring in Amboina, an 
island in the Malay Archipel- 
ago, where it was discovered 
by Mr. A. R. Wallace. The 
LAUGHING-KINGFISHERS 
This species has comparati-vely dull-coloured plumage 
