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Speaking o f the holes in wIucIl th e Belted Kingfisher breeds, the same autlior a a y s :—
“ I have laid open to my view several o f these holes, iu different situations aud soils,
and_ h ave gen e ra lly found th em to he formed as follows. The male and female, after
h av in g fixed upo n a p ro p e r spot, a re seen clinging to th e banks o f th e stream in the
manner o f Woodpeckers. T h e ir s to u t bills are set to work, and as soon as the hole has
a cq u ired a c e rta in depth, one o f the bird s ente rs it, and scratches o u t the sand, e a rth or
clay, w ith its feet, s trik in g meanwhile w ith its b ill to e x ten d th e depth. The o th er bird
a ll th e while appears to cheer th e labourer, and u rg e i t to continue its e x e rtio n s ; and w hen
th e la tte r is fa tig u ed takes its place. T h u s by th e co-operation o f both, th e hole is du g
to th e depth o f four, five, o r sometimes s ix ieet, in a ho rizo n tal direction, a t times n o t
m o re th an eighteen inches below th e surface o f the g round, a t others e ight o r ten
feet. * * * * In cuba tion continues for six teen days. In th e Middle States, these
b ird s seldom raise more th an one brood a year, b u t in the Sou th ern usu ally two.
In cu b a tio n is performed h y bo th pa ren ts, which evince g re a t solicitude for th e safety of
th e young. T h e m o th e r sometimes drops on th e wa te r, as i f severely wounded, and
flu tte rs an d fo u n d e r s as i f u n ab le to rise from the stream, in order to induce th e in tru d e r
to wade o r swim a fte r, wh ilst h e r mate, perched on th e n e a re st bough, o r even on the edge
of th e bank, jerk s h is ta il, erects his crest, ra ttle s h is notes with an g ry vehemence, and
th en sp rin g in g off, passes an d repasses before the enemy, with a continued cry of
d e sp air.”
“ I have n o t been able to ascerta in wh e th e r o r n o t the y oung are fed with macerated
food d isgorged b y th e p a ren ts in to th e ir bills, b u t I have reason to th in k so, and I have
always observed th e old ones to swallow th e fishes which th ey had caught, before th ey
en te red th e hole. T h e y o u n g are , however, afterwards fed dire ctly on the en tire fish; and
I h ave freq u en tly seen them follow th e p a ren t birds, an d a lig h t on the same branch,
flapping th e ir wings, an d c allin g w ith open b ill for th e food j u s t taken o u t o f the water,
when th e p e titio n was seldom denied.”
F rom Mr. Samuel’s work, the late s t p ublished on American Ornithology, I have taken
th e following note (I. e. ) :—
“ W hen perched on a limb overhanging th e water, h e freq u en tly je ts his ta il in the
m an n er o f th e Peewee, and often descends from such a pe rch and seizes a frog o r a fish,
and I once sh o t one th a t had ju s t seized a meadow mouse (arvicola) in th is manner. The
y o u n g u su a lly remain in th e hole in th e hank u n til th ey a re ab o u t fledged. I am inclined
to th in k , th a t u su a lly th ey r e tu rn to these holes a t n ig h t and in stormy weather, as I have
freq u en tly seen th em ab o u t th e ir nests long afte r th ey were fledged, and have even seen
them passing in to th em a t th e close o f th e day. In m igrating, the y o u n g leave th e ir
p a ren ts, and these even separate, and p u rsu e th e ir jo u rn e y alo n e; and i t is a case o f rare
occurrence th a t two are seen to g eth e r afte r th e la tte r p a rt o f A u g u s t.”
There seems to be some little confusion as to th e id en tity o f the female o f the present
species, and cu rio u sly enough I have n o t been able to meet with a sexed specimen in th is
c o u n try ; b u t th e figure o f th e female in th e p late has been taken from a b ird properly
named and sexed, in th e Leiden Museum (No. 7 o f Schlegel’s C at.). F rom th is i t would
appear th a t th e female is distin g u ish ed by red flanks and by a second band of rufous below
th e o rd in a ry ‘b e lt.’ Th is agrees with th e descriptions o f Wilson and Audubon, b u t the
a u th o rs o f th e ‘Birds o f N o rth America’ (and a fte r th em Mr. Samuels, who seems simply
to have copied th e ir rem ark s) consider th is ru fo u s colouring to be the sign o f y oung birds
only. I find considerable differences in th e measurements o f old and y o u n g birds, and it
seems also from observations in th e above-mentioned work th a t differences also ex is t in
specimens from different localities, those from th e P.acific Coast ‘b eing appreciably larg er
th a n E a s te rn ones.’ I sho u ld be glad to receive any notes o r specimens from any friends
who have th e o p p o rtu n ity o f p ersonal observation. My measurements and description are
taken from an old male sh o t nea r Albany, New York, tJ.S.A., in my own collection.
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