BRITISH BIRDS, 19 
KINGFISHER. 
{Alcado Ifpiday Lmn. Le Martin-pecheur, Buff.) 
* 
This fplendid little bird is of rather a clumfy 
fhape, the head being large in proportion to the 
lize of the body, and the legs and feet very fmalL 
In length it is only feven inches, in breadth eleven; 
and its weight is about two ounces and a quarter. 
The bill, meafured from the corners of the mouth, 
is two inches long, vertically comprefled on the 
fides, ftrong, ftraight, and tapering to a fharp 
point : the upper mandible is black, fading into a 
red colour towards the bafe; the under one, as 
well as the infide of the mouth, is of a reddifli 
orange : the irides are hazel, inclining to red. A 
broad flripe paifes from the bill over the eye to the 
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