l iw ii ih
shores o f th e Dead Sea, a ttra c ted b v th e s h o X o f f l I ’ T i reso rt to the
fre sh w a te r streams and soon s iu p T f i e d h f th h i e T ¿own by the
we ste rn side, Mr. Shepherd sh o t Ml th re e enee,'e. l .n i ■ r d om in g on the
generally, however, we m e t w ith A isix'r/a ir, m ' 'd '™ a few minutes o f each o th e r;
smaUer streams th an th e others, and e 'v i the banks o f
th a t “ i t is common ab o u t the nm r s h e r a n d w i t T ™ ® “» t o f e s (Ib is , 1864, p. 282)
ha s sen t several specimens from Asia Minor ™ , So™s o f Greece.” Mr. Eobson
appears n o t imcommo.) “ » o * ° f countries it
t t t X * ’" * 7™ gHo u t tlm X w e X c t u X i X ' - ' t o “» <“
y e a r through,’" is refe’rable to the same b i r d ‘’“ä
occasion s ittin g over th e w ater in one o f th e ponds, probably M te S e d b v th e note r ? '
companions in tb e A v ia ry in th e Fish-house Who,, re " ‘*“' 1; c a re e red by th e notes o f its
-"Hören
d e r in language. Naumanu riv e s t a s ‘‘ i X X I ' I 7 ’^ “ >
m m m m m
immediately swallowed. E x c ep t i n \h e e a r l y i o t i ^ ¡ E s t l X f c X f e s X e t o ; « »
C i t e »
for its resting-place, b u t in the au tum n when th e migration is in progress, a t break o f clay
i t is n o t unusual to see two o r even th re e bird s in company on a rail o r on the side o f a
p u n t ; ill the day time, however, it loves solitude, and seldom more th an one can be seen a t
once, and th en it affects more shady and secluded haunts. In g eneral i t is a lonely bird,
jealous o f intrusion, especially from individuals of its own species. Each p a ir appear to
choose and maintain a p articu lar h u n tin g ground, and should one ICingfisher enter upon the
domain o f another, i t is speedily and effectually ousted b y the rig h tfu l owner with cries of
rage. So tierce is the animosity displayed b y these birds, th a t when excited in combat they
fly heedless o f obstacles, and th u s occasionally meet th e ir death in th e ir headlong career ;
n o t long ago, indeed, an instance was recorded in th e “ F ie ld ,'’ b y Mr. E. Ward, o f two
Kingfishers which flew with such violence against a window, th a t b oth p u rsu er and pursued
m et th e ir death on th e spot. Mr. Alfred Denison possesses these identical specimens, which
were stuffed to commemorate the occurrence.
In the above details o f the habits o f our Kingfisher, the resu lts o f o u r observations
differ considerably from those o f Dr. K iitte r as hereinafter given, and we can only reconcile
the discrepancy by supposing th a t the Kingfisher in Germany is a more pacific bii’d than
its En glish congener.
The late Mr. Briggs o f Cookham, a most accurate observer o f the h abits o f our British
Birds, and one w hose loss cannot sufficiently be deplored, has told us th a t he has often
watched the Kingfisher dive several times from its post without apparently c ap tu rin g any
prey, and th a t its object in so doing be believed to be, by d istu rb in g tb e water, to a ttra c t the
small fish and insects. To this hypothesis we cannot adhere, and our opinion is th a t the
b ird merely plunges in order to wash itself, and Mr. Frederick Bond, the well-known Mentor
o f British Ornithologists, concurs in th is o p in io n ; we were also on one occasion witnesses
to a freak on the p a rt o f a Kingfisher which was wildly dashing backwards and forwards in
a small brook, apparently taking a b a th and screaming vociferously all the while.
The young, even when in the nest, a re noisy, and th e ir presence can be d etected in the
breeding-bole by tbe cries they emit. When able to fly they s it in secluded spots in the
neighbourhood o f th e nest, and are v ery clamorous for food. The old b ird s evince g rea t
solicitude for th eir offspring, and when an in tru d e r is seen in the neighbourhood o f th eir
young may be observed flying restlessly from point to point with the food in th e bill
intended for th e little Kingfishers, who, unsuspecting danger, answer th e anxious cry
o f the p a ren t bii-d from the depths o f th e shady refre at where th ey are awaiting its retu rn .
I t is to be recorded th a t when only j u s t able to fly th e note o f th e young ex actly resemble
th e disyllabic cry o f the ad u lt bird, b u t is o f course n o t so powerful.
The Kingfisher, though essentially frequenting water, by no means confines its choice
o f a breed in g locality to the v icin ity o f th at element, and the n est is n o t unfrequeiitly found
a t some distance from the nearest stream. We know ourselves o f an instance where a pair
of bfrds selected a hole in a garden-bank in Dr. Goolden’s grounds a t Maidenhead, a t least
a mile away from any water, a t a very little h e ig h t from the g round, and with in easy reach
of the passers by. In our opinion, the n a tu re o f the soil has more to do Avith the choice of
th e nesting-liole, its p liability for tunn elin g being the most essential requirement.
We may add th a t the Kingfisher varies its food according to the localities it frequents,
and although on th e rivers its usual food consists o f fish and Avater insects, on v isiting the
sea-shore i t feeds on shrimps, &c., while o u r friend Mr. Gatcombc tells us th a t one Avas
b ro u g h t to him near Plymo u th AAdiich had the stomach literally crammed Avith small crabs.
The following v e ry in terestin g account o f the habits of th e Kingfisher is from th e pen
o f Dr. K iitte r (Jo u rn . f. Orn. 1866, p. 38). He s a y s :—
“ I have often observed th a t th is b ird n o t only seizes insects A v iie n in want o f its chief
article o f food or o f the first food for its young, b u t also a t other times, and I have proved
th is b y examining the contents of the stomach o u t o f th e breeding season. I t was, therefore,
doubly in te restin g to me to see Hcuglln’s notes in bis work, in aa'I u c Ii he states th a t certain
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