A Brilliant Britisher.

Kaipara and Waitemata Echo, 9 October 1914, Page 8

A Brilliant Britisher.

Whenever the value of the Wild Birds Protection Act is questioned, it is customary to mention the kingfisher as one of the birds ' which, by this means, has been saved from extinction. I am afraid that a great deal yet remains to be done before this, the most brilliant of all birds, is as common as it should be. The kingfisher in the ordinary sense has few enemies. . True, water rats may at times interfere with its domestic arrangements owing to the fact that the bird does not build ; its nest in trees or shrubs' but on the bank of a stream, but there, * \ - so far as Nature is concerned, the j Woes of the kingfisher end. The bird \ has nothing to fear from,birds of \ prey, for its daily occupation seldom takes it out into the open. I Quiet streams and-rivers still abound, \ in spite of the cry that England is ;;•" overcrowded, while the water liter- ;. ally teems with the food the bird lives on. Add to all this the fact"^ t '•' that these birds have large families and it will be seen that kingfishers \ should be very numerous. I doubt '; whether "you" have ever seen one^ ? The bird has been relentlessly per- ■) secuted by those who can never re- i sist shooting a brightly coloured : bird, by the manufacturers of "flies" ?■ for anglers, and by those who begrudge the kingfisher even a few *; •>-. youthful trout to vary the mono-' ■; tony of many minnows. [ It is sad that this should be so, but at least one can congratulate oneself on the fact that the bird is not quite as uncommon as it ■'. once was. On certain rivers king- ' ; fishers are fairly numerous, though on others where they should abound not a single pair is to be s-en. That they would be>.seen if they were there is pretty certain., for these birds can scarcely hope to escape, detection for long. They are the most vividly coloured of all Bri- " tishers, and are conspicuous even when they sit absolutely motionless H on a branch or tree stump' by the steam waiting patiently for their dinner to swim towards them. As they dart with deadly aim upon their victim, or as they fly over the stream to some fresh "reach," they are even more noticeable—a veritable streak of glorious colour flashing in the sunlight. It is almost a truism to say that N.\ture rarely give* birds both beauty of plumage and of voice. Certainly the kingfisher cannot claim. the latter. It does not follow, though, that because a bird is very beautiful its voice is harsh, as in the case of the peacock, and the kingfisher's note is by no means un, ' pleasant. This is more than can be ■said . of the laughing jackass, his first cousin, and no one writing of bushlife in Australia can afford to omit to mention the extraordinary soundsi made by. this bird. Any account o£ the British bird would be incomplete if it contained no mention, of the fishbone nest which is supposed to be so valuable. Really it' is nothing of the sort, nor is it qulfe^^-^ as wonderful as it sounds-. Tb^^ bones are those which have been ejected by the bird, since kingfishers do not pick their fish but swallow! it whole, and there is some doubt as to whether during the nesting season the birds actually build a rough nest of this curious material at the end of the tunnel chosen, or whether they merely deposit what mus£ be got rid of and lay their eggs on the top. Certainly the nest is not a work of art nor a model of neatness, but then, since it is underground, no nest is needed.

As one would expect in the case of- a bird which lays and incubates its eggs in the dark, those of the kingfisher are white, though they have a pink tint before their contents are extracted.