Malachite kingfisher downwards. Fish, aquatic insects, and crustaceans are eaten. Malachite kingfisher The malachite kingfisher ("Corythornis cristatus") is a river kingfisher which is widely distributed in Africa south of the Sahara. It is largely resident except for seasonal climate-related movements. The malachite kingfisher was described by the German naturalist Peter Simon Pallas in 1764 and given the binomial name "Alcedo cristata". The specific epithet "cristata" is from the Latin "cristatus" meaning "crested" or "plumed". The adjective "malachite" in the vernacular name normally refers to the dark green colour of the copper containing mineral. This kingfisher has blue upperparts but has black banding
The Malachite Box (18 January 1939), "Izvestia" (4 April), "Pravda" and "Industria Sotsialisma" (July). However the critics disagreed on the question of authorship. Some considered "The Malachite Box" pure folklore, others thought of it was a literary work penned by Bazhov. The author himself tried to avoid the issue, joking that "questions such as these should be left to scholars". At present Bazhov's tales are generally accepted as his own literary work based on the Urals folklore. The editor of "Izvestia" called "The Malachite Box" "a valuable contribution to the Soviet fiction" and noted that "the vividness of expression and poetic richness turn