412 The Hijlory of A N I M A L S. 
alfo, and the feathers under the wings, are of the fame reddifh tinge : on the breaft 
there is a tinge of biuifh-green at the tips of the feathers. 
The whole back, from the neck to the infertion of the tail, is of an elegant blue 
colour, fcarce to be defcribed, and on which it is painful to the eye to remain look¬ 
ing : it is not a deep or ftrong colour, but pale, and extreamly bright, excelling the 
luftre of all the works of art: it appears uniform at firft fight, but, if carefully ob~ 
ferved, there will be found fome tranfverfe lines in it of a darker colour. 
The crown of the head is of a blackifh-green, variegated with tranfverfe fpots of 
blue : between the noflrils and the eyes there is a reddifh fpot, and there is alfo ano¬ 
ther fpot of the fame colour behind each eye; and behind each of thefe reddifh fpots 
there is yet another of a pale whitifh hue, with only a flight tinge of reddifh-brown 
in it; under all thefe, there runs a longitudinal line of a biuifh-green. 
The wings are long, and well plumed ; the long feathers in each are no lefs than 
twenty-three in number; the third of thefe, from the outer one, is the longed : as 
well thefe long feathers, as the fhorter, which immediately cover them, are of°a'beau¬ 
tiful dazzling blue both on the upper fide, and brown underneath ; and all the leflerones 
except thofe quite at the verge of the wing, have the fame elegant blue at their tips: 
from the fhoulders there hang a number of very long and very narrow feathers down 
each fide of the back; thefe are of a mixed blue and green colour, very bright and 
glofify j the tips of them are bluer, and the bodies greener. 
The tail is very fhort, it hardly equals an inch in length ; it is compofed of twelve 
feathers, and is throughout of a deep blue, with fome blacknefs. 
The legs are extreamly fhort; they are black on the front fide, and of a red co¬ 
lour on the hinder part, as are alfo the feet and toes: the ftrudture of the feet is An¬ 
gular ; the outer toe of each adheres to the middle ones for the fpace of three joints, 
and the inner one only one joint; the inner toe is the fmalleft of all; it hardly equals 
half the length of the middle one: the outer one is nearly equal to the middle one, 
and the hinder toe is about equal to the leaf! of the three anterior : the third bone of 
the leg is fhorter in this than in any other known bird ; and the toes are deeply marked 
with a number of tranfverfe lines or furrows, which give them the appearance of be¬ 
ing articulated. 
This is a native of England, and of many other parts of the world. It is ufually 
feen about brooks and rivers, and feeds on fifh: all the writers on birds have men¬ 
tioned it. Ray, Willughby, and others call it Ifpida, or veterum Alcyon ; and others, 
Alcyon and Halcyon. It builds about the fides of rivers, but it is not common. 
Ifpida capite cceruleo pe&ore variegato . 
The Ifpida , with a blue head and variegated breajl .. 
IPf)e Slntitatt 
This is a very fmall but a wonderful elegant bird, it hardly exceeds our common 
titmoufe in fize : the head is fmall, oblong, flatted on the crown, and rounded at the 
fides: the eyes are fmall, and their iris is of a dark dufky hazel: the beak is large, 
in proportion to the fize of the bird ; it is more than half an inch long, confiderably 
robuft, a little crooked, and very fharp at the end , it is of a pale fiefii colour through¬ 
out, except at the tip, and along the verge of the under jaw, where it is black : the 
noflrils are very minute, and of an oblong figure and narrow ; and the angles of the 
mouth are yellow. 
The head is throughout of a mofl elegant fhining blue, without any fpot or varie¬ 
gation : the throat is of a deep purple ; the breafl and belly are of a pale but elegant 
crimfon, variegated with oblique lines of a greenifh colour, not very diftinguifhable, 
unlefs on a near infpedtion : the back and fhoulders are of a deep green, fhaded with 
a tinge of the richefl and deepefl blue imaginable, if viewed in certain lights; in others 
it is lefs diflindtj the rump is whitifh. 
The 
