THE KINGFISHER

David Boag

Blandford Press, 1982

The kingfisher is arguably Britain’s most beautiful and spectacular bird. While it is not particularly rare, it is seldom seen (except as a fleeting glimpse of blue) and few people ever get the chance to study it from close quarters. It is probably this elusive quality which has caused the kingfisher to be lauded by poets, mysticised by folklore and used constantly as a subject for cards and ornaments of all kind. The combination of the bird’s dazzling plumage and remarkable life style – it spends most of the autumn battling wit neighbours, nests deep underground and catches its food by diving head first into icy cold water – make it a fascinating and rewarding subject for close study.

This book is based on the author’s seven year study of the bird. It covers the complete life cycle of the kingfisher and describes in detail the bird’s habitat, its strong territorial instincts, courtship behaviour nest-building, the hatching and development of the young and its outstanding fishing abilities.

The book is lavishly decorated with 66 of the author’s unique colour photographs which show the kingfisher in every stage of its development. The photographs of the bird underwater, and of the nest chamber, are of exceptional interest, as are the portraits of the young hand-reared birds, which were rescued from their flooded nest hole and eventually returned to the wild. All of the photographs were taken under licence as the kingfisher is protected in the U.K. where this study was made.

Both the book and the dust jacket are in very good condition. Beautifully illustrated in full colour.