Probably the kingfisher pairs for life, as the same breeding-hole is used year after year, although the two birds are not seen together out of the breeding season. The cry is a shrill but musical piping note, two or three times repeated, somewhat like the sandpiper’s cry. * * * * * Two specimens of the belted kingfisher (_Ceryle alcyon_), an American species, have been obtained in Ireland. Three other birds remain to be noticed in this place; they are members of three distinct families, and are amongst the most beautiful of the rare occasional visitors seen in our country:-- The roller (_Coracius garrula_), a jay-like bird, blue and chestnut-brown in colour. It breeds in Southern and Central Europe, and is known only as a rare straggler in the British Islands. The bee-eater (_Merops apiaster_)--A good many examples of this elegant and richly coloured bird have been obtained in England. It is an abundant species in Southern Europe, where it breeds in colonies in sandbanks, like our sand-martin. The hoopoe (_Upupa epops_).--This species has some claim to a place among British birds, as it is an annual visitor to our country, although in small numbers. It is a singular and beautiful bird, and it is sad to think that, but for the persecution it has encountered year after year, it would most probably have established itself as a regular breeding species in the southern counties of England. [Illustration: FIG. 64.--HOOPOE.] Cuckoo. Cuculus canorus. Upper parts bluish ash, darker on the wings, lighter on the neck and breast; under parts whitish with transverse dusky streaks; quills barred on the inner webs with oval white spots; tail-feathers blackish, tipped and spotted with white; beak dusky, edged with yellow; orbits and inside of mouth orange yellow; iris and feet yellow. _Young_: ash-brown barred with reddish brown; tips of feathers white; a white spot on the back of the head. Length, thirteen and a half inches. * * * * * [Illustration: FIG. 65.--CUCKOO. ⅙ natural size.]