[Illustration: THE EUROPEAN KINGFISHER (_Alcedo ispida_).] THE EUROPEAN KINGFISHER. The EUROPEAN KINGFISHER (_Alcedo ispida_) is recognisable by its long, thin, straight, and powerful beak, which is much compressed at its tip. The foot is small; the centre of the three front toes is connected with the external toe as far as the second, and with the short inner toe to the first joint; the hind toe is very small; the third quill in the short, blunt wing exceeds the rest in length; the tail is formed of twelve small feathers. The thick, compact plumage is very brilliant, with a metallic gloss above, and a silky gloss on the under side. The feathers on the head are prolonged into a crest. As it would be impossible to mistake the European Kingfisher for any other bird, it will suffice to say that the upper portions of the body are greenish blue, and the lower yellowish brown; the eye is deep brown, the beak bright red, and the foot cinnabar-red. The length of this bird is six inches and a half, the breadth ten inches and a half; the wing measures two inches and two-thirds; the length of tail one inch and a half. This Kingfisher, the only European representative of the above group, is one of the most beautiful of our British birds, and its appearance as it dashes along in the sunshine strikingly brilliant. It is an inhabitant of all parts of Europe, except the extreme north, and is also widely spread over Asia and Africa. This species is always found in the vicinity of water, over which it may be seen shooting along like a little meteor. Its food consists not only of small fishes, but also of aquatic insects and leeches. The appetite of the Kingfisher is voracious, and his manners shy and retiring. Dwelling near sequestered brooks and rivers, he sits for hours together motionless and solitary on some bough overhanging the stream, patiently watching the movements of the smaller fishes which constitute his food, waiting for a favourable moment to dart with the velocity of an arrow upon the first that comes near enough to the surface, and seldom failing in his aim. He returns with it to his former station, on some large stone or branch, where he kills his captive by shifting its position in his bill, so as to grasp it firmly near the tail, and striking its head smartly against the object on which he rests; he then reverses its position and swallows it head foremost; the indigestible parts are afterwards ejected in a manner analogous to that of Owls and other birds of prey. The Kingfisher, however, does not confine himself to this mode of watching in motionless solitude, but should the stream be broad, or no favourable station for espionage present itself, he may be seen poising himself over it at an altitude of ten or fifteen feet, scrutinising the element below for his food, and then plunging upon it with a velocity which often carries him considerably below the surface. For these habits