in these days the kingfisher is a sad and solitary bird, caring not to venture far from the water where she finds her food. up and down the river banks she goes, uttering a peculiar plaintive cry. what is she saying, and why is she so restless? the american kingfisher is gray, but her cousin of europe is a bird of brilliant azure with a breast of rusty red. therefore it must have been the foreign kingfisher who was forgetful, as you shall hear.
long, long after the sorrows of halcyone, the first kingfisher, were ended, came the great storm which lasted forty days and forty nights, causing the worst flood which the world has ever known. that was a terrible time. when father noah hastened to build his ark, inviting the animals and birds to take refuge with him, the kingfisher herself was glad to go aboard. for even she, protected by ?olus from the fury of winds and waters, was not safe while there was no place in all the world for her to rest foot and weary wing. so the kingfisher fluttered in with the other birds and animals, a strange company! and there they lived all together, noah and his arkful of pets, for many weary days, while the waters raged and the winds howled outside, and all the earth was covered fathoms deep out of sight below the waves.
but after long weeks the storm ceased, and father noah opened the little window in the ark and sent forth the dove to see whether or not there was land visible on which the ark might find rest. now after he had sent out the dove, noah looked about him at the other birds and animals which crowded around him eagerly, for they were growing very restless from their long confinement, and he said, "which of you is bravest, and will dare follow our friend the dove out into the watery world? ah, here is the kingfisher. little mother, you at least, reared among the winds and waters, will not be afraid. take wing, o kingfisher, and see if the earth be visible. then return quickly and bring me faithful word of what you find out yonder."
day was just beginning to dawn when the kingfisher, who was then as gray as gray, flew out from the little window of the ark whence the dove had preceded her. but hardly had she left the safe shelter of father noah's floating home, when there came a tremendous whirlwind which blew her about and buffeted her until she was almost beaten into the waves, which rolled endlessly over the face of the whole earth, covering the high hills and the very mountains. the kingfisher was greatly frightened. she could not go back into the ark, for the little window was closed, and there was no land anywhere on which she could take refuge. just think for a moment what a dreadful situation it was! there was nothing for her to do but to fly up, straight up, out of reach from the tossing waves and dashing spray.
the kingfisher was fresh and vigorous, and her wings were strong and powerful, for she had been resting long days in the quiet ark, eating the provisions which father noah had thoughtfully prepared for his many guests. so up, up she soared, above the very clouds, on into the blue ether which lies beyond. and lo! as she did so, her sober gray dress became a brilliant blue, the color caught from the azure of those clear heights. higher and higher she flew, feeling so free and happy after her long captivity, that she quite forgot father noah and the errand upon which she had been sent. up and up she went, higher than the sun, until at last she saw him rising far beneath her, a beautiful ball of fire, more dazzling, more wonderful than she had ever guessed.
"hola!" she cried, beside herself with joy at the sight. "there is the dear sun, whom i have not seen for many days. and how near, how beautiful he is! i will fly closer still, now that i have come so near. i will observe him in all his splendor, as no other bird, not even the high-flying, sharp-eyed eagle, has ever seen him."
and with that the foolish kingfisher turned her course downward, with such mad, headlong speed that she had scarcely time to feel what terrible, increasing heat shot from the sun's rays, until she was so close upon him that it was too late to escape. oh, but that was a dreadful moment! the feathers on her poor little breast were scorched and set afire, and she seemed in danger not only of spoiling her beautiful new blue dress but of being burned into a wretched little cinder. horribly frightened at her danger, the kingfisher turned once more, but this time toward the rolling waters which covered the earth. down, down she swooped, until with the hiss of burning feathers she splashed into the cold wetness, putting out the fire which threatened to consume her. once, twice, thrice, she dipped into the grateful coolness, flirting the drops from her blue plumage, now alas! sadly scorched.
when the pain of her burns was somewhat relieved she had time to think what next she should do. she longed for rest, for refuge, for father noah's gentle, caressing hand to which she had grown accustomed during those stormy weeks of companionship in the ark. but where was father noah? where was the ark? on all the rolling sea of water there was no movement of life, no sign of any human presence. then the kingfisher remembered her errand, and how carelessly she had performed it. she had been bidden to return quickly; but she had wasted many hours—she could not tell how many—in her forgetful flight. and now she was to be punished indeed, if she could not find her master and the ark of refuge.
the poor kingfisher looked wildly about. she fluttered here and there, backward and forward, over the weary stretch of waves, crying piteously for her master. he did not answer; there was no ark to be found. the sun set and the night came on, but still she sought eagerly from east to west, from north to south, always in vain. she could never find what she had so carelessly lost.
the truth is that during her absence the dove, who had done her errand faithfully, returned at last with the olive leaf which told of one spot upon the earth's surface at last uncovered by the waves. then the ark, blown hither and thither by the same storm which had driven the kingfisher to fly upward into the ether-blue, had drifted far and far to mount ararat, where it ran aground. and father noah, disembarking with his family and all the assembled animals, had broken up the ark, intending there to build him a house out of the materials from which it was made. but this was many, many leagues from the place where the poor kingfisher, lonely and frightened, hovered about, crying piteously for her master.
and even when the waters dried away, uncovering the earth in many places, so that the kingfisher could alight and build herself a nest, she was never happy nor content, but to this day flies up and down the water-ways of the world piping sadly, looking eagerly for her dear master and for some traces of the ark which sheltered her. and the reflection which she makes in the water below shows an azure-blue body, like a reflection of the sky above, with some of the breast-feathers scorched to a rusty red. and now you know how it all came about.
