BIRDS. 241 
Buffon says it is a bird of passage, and migrates in the 
months of May and September. In those countries 
where it is common (but so rare is it in this country, that 
it can hardly be called a British bird), it is said to fly in 
large flocks in the autumn, and is frequently seen on cul- 
tivated grounds, with rooks and other birds, searching for 
worms, insects of various kinds, small seeds, berries, 
roots, &c. It likewise is said, in cases of necessity, to eat 
young frogs. 
THE KINGFISHER (Alcedo ispidc,) 
Is the Halcyon of the ancients, and his name recalls to 
our mind the most lively ideas. It was believed, that, as 
long as the female sat upon her eggs, the god of storms 
and tempests refrained from disturbing the calmness of 
the waves, and Halcyon days were, for navigators of old 
times, the most secure moment to perform their voyages. 
As firm as the rock, and as calm as the flood, 
Where the peace-loving Halcyon deposits her brood. 
But although this bears analogy to a natural coincidence 
between the time of brooding assigned to the Kingfishers, 
and a part of the year when the ocean is less tempestuous, 
yet Mythology would exercise her fancy, and turn into 
wonders that which was nothing else than the common 
course of nature. 
M 
