Many birds and animals are associated with mythology. The term halcyon days usually refers to the periods of past times in one’s life when there was calm, happiness and success. That is to say Good Times. The word halcyon comes from “Hals” meaning “sea or salty” and “kyon” meaning “to conceive” meaning to conceive in sea.
The term derives from the Latin word Alcyone who in Greek mythology was the daughter of Aeolus and wife of Ceyx. Her husband died when their ship wrecked. The grief stricken Alcyone threw herself into the sea. After that both were transformed into halcyon birds identified as tree Kingfishers. For example the biological name of the white throated kingfisher is Halcyon Smyrnensis.
When the birds made their floating nest on the sea, Aeolus restrained his winds and their was a period of calm of 14 days at the winter solstice, so that the eggs hatch into chicks and become birds.
White throated kingfisher is a very beautiful bird. It is quite common in our area. Although going by its name, it is mainly a fish eater but it has modified its eating habits. It can catch insects, small rodents and lizards. That is why it can be found sitting on trees in the fields away from the water bodies.
Here are some pictures taken by me.
