b ird, “I ' / l w f s ô m e w ) — ' “ * “
h a u n t o f an o th er ivithout th e la tte r even m o G n r f J , hshermen pass b y the
n o t a p a ir belougmg to each other. The usual“breediiw ? ' t“,™ Î?“ ‘hoy were
an d J u n e . GenSraUy th ey have b u t one b m X “ X " « “ ™« ‘ ‘« «nd *0 be A pril, May
h r s t tb e female n o t ra re ly has an o th e r and i t is s *1 a “» y th in g happens to the
A u g u s t. This I d e t e r ^ l i n e X - m a r lS X * ¿ 3 T i t “o f Tl ‘ f “7 " X “ " " 'y ”
a fte rwards catcliing them on the L s t The nosGio ! f fl X 7
s tra ig h t bank, w h b h is n o t n r c L X u V w a s L d l X
It in a bank a b o u t tw en ty paces from wntH- «i I r i - ^ exception found
The c ircu la r hole, about t X o T Z r i n o t s X d i a X X T "T V 7 ' ‘-fre i™ n t« l path,
an d in h igh banks about the middle o r below th a t I t narî- banks is j u s t u n d e r th e edge,
o r ru n s qu ite horizontal, and is tu n n eled a foot m J n 1 l 7 Shtly, and rises graduaUy
h a lf in to th e bank. I have s o n i e t i r s knm™ hem to tmm "
. cases have mv ariab ly found ro o ts o r stones t X e G i - , ■ »“ t in such
line. T h e w e l l- k n o L g r o o f eX n r r k s on eaci s d X X ‘‘‘f aontinnation in a direct
worked o u t in the n eighbourhood o f th e o u tle t o r in mnc)’“'’“ T k T ‘® '»®tinctly. The oven-like o r lentile-shaped chamber a t th e ’ e f l ’ “ I'ch-used holes are qu ite effaced.
wide an d fo u r inches hig h , and th e bird o n lÎh e o r e 7 ®7™ly domed g enerally six inches
scales o f f i s h which i t has eaten a fter '" t l i discarded boiics and
chambers iv ith o u t eggs nev e r h ave a t r n e X f tl ' 7 Newly-finished
d u rin g th e time o r i a y i n g th e f e f s a n f sit X " “ X f ™rfiiig-material, which
accumulates so th a t a t last i t re a J h tm g g rad u a lly increases in size and
When in cubation L c o ^ f T o n e n e X Z l X ^ “A “ ’“'
indeed th e eggs req u ire fi-om S i r m U ' r and s , e a s T o 1 X , » “' f e T » ’
in addition to tb e wa rmth o f th e TnofliP,. size as do also tbe naked young,
o f w a rm th in th e shape o f th e chilly e a rth • so t h X i t Z 7 i ‘7 »“» ““ dnctor
how people can speak o f a c A a n l oollec’tion o f t? “ “Î mromprehensible
Moreover, these femahis h a X th e s a Z Z X c X Z X r ' “ “ - ‘to«-fhamber.
same end as a foundation o f d ry grass s tm t X I m T ? I 7 “ ■'*‘=‘’7 *<=
w a te r can th e less easily make use o’f I s h oX ? , d f ' f X habitiiaUy freq u en tin g the
seems so g re a t an u n d e L k in g Z so smMl a K r f ^
time, and I can show th a t th e tpaoe o f scXcelv a w e e k s, f l " “ “ “ .toP“ '’*‘» 'e ly short
eager p ick in g an d diffgino- often in b a rd s-md Î i î 1 1 fL m some instances. In tbe
appears from choice to work wzU the upper mandible onfo i b i T f ™ fr 7 '^'^ b
one o r two lines, and in one i n s t a n f I T - S of
seems, been b roken off. I never found fr wanting, having, as it
to g eth e r only one is inhabited The sh o rte st several holes are close
fifty paces. I have, ir i th o T e x c e n r in n fo ff^
eggs, even in a second brood. Î have b 7 n um b fe f“ " complement o f
sta ted , is th e perio d o f in cu b a tio n /“ »"°™ * ’’P*'°™ *»’“ ‘ *-‘ 6 days, as
footnotoT-l“ to ‘»Sgtogi Dr. K iitte r adds the following
B S S i i i l i i
.w e I l- “ à M X r X e o X e X : X o f Kingfisher.” from the pen o f th a t
addressed to th e E d ito r, and is o f l i f f lX r f o t e X r tX b e “Z T s l l d ‘
(Alcedo ispida) is somewtat stale, yet, in consequence of the
‘Homes Witliout Hands,’ I send you the following
“ Sin,—Tliough the subject of the Kingfishei
remarks which I have just road in the October Qua ^ ______________
notes, made this spring, in order to set a t rest, if possible, a mistake regarding tho breeding of this b
Modern wiitors on tho Kingfislier are hardly more free from error than even Ovid or Pliny. The bii-d is a
true miner, and makes a nest of fish bones: but, as no rule is without an exception, where it cannot find a
suitable bank to boi-o in, it lias been known to nidificate in abnoimal situations; and when abundance of proper
fish are not to bo caught, it is obliged to do without bonos.
“ From many years’ constant watching, I can exactly tell the probable position of the hole, and the day
it will be begun. Accordingly, on Thursday, March 29, I sent two witnesses to a paiticular spot on the river
Ouse, S. Neots, Huntingdonshire. They observed that there was on that day positively no hole of any kind,
or vestige of a hole, in that banlc.
“ On Easter Monday, April 2, I sent a keeper to the place. He reported the hole as begim. On the same
day I went in a boat, and, putting a reed up, found it by actual measurement about fifteen inches deep, the
moulds being quite fresh outside. Droppings of the bh-d (which was now seen constantly leaving the h^le)
were visible in two places. There was also a shallow hole a little to the left of tho above-mentioned ont
This
was a failure—either from caprice or some other cause, abandoned. We obseiwe the same in Wood]^
which will sometimes bore in three or four places befoi-o they get one to their liking—a circumstance I pai'ti-
cularly remarked in a pair of the Greater Spotted Woodpeckers fT . major J last spring. Between March 29
and April 2, the Kingfisher had made two holes. I thought it hest now to leave the place, only receiving fr-om
tlio keeper each moi-uing a report, as he went by in his boat, that the bii-d was going on.
“ Saturday, April 7.—I made a memorandum: ‘I again observe fresh moulds, but not, aa we consider,
to-day’s, but yestei-day’s; hence I suppose tho hole to be nearly finished, if not quite.’ Here I should say,
after taking tírese nests constantly for nearly thirty years, I find twenty-one days is the correct time from the
commencement of tho excavation to the end of laying seven eggs. I never had the luck to find eight; Mr.
Gould, however, informs me he once did.
“ Satui-day, April 21.—Opened the hole, situated in the perpendicular bank, to keep off water-rats.
Found, by measurement, the entrance was twelve inches fr-om the sui-face of the gi-ound, and about five feet
frxim tho water. The length of the ascending gallery was eight and a half inches, and tho oval chamber six
inches in diameter more. The top of the chamber was nine inches fi-om the surface of the gi-ound. I t contained
the usual nest of fish-bones, which was one and a half inches deep; and the same with the seven fr-esli
eggs are now before me, with two other nests from die same locality. The bii-d fiew off after the fii-st dig,
which I commonly moke so as to cover up the hole again without distm-bance if the full number of eggs has
not been laid.
“ There was no excrement in the chamber, but much just outside in the gallei-y. The size of the chamber
is just sufilcient for the owners to turn round pleasantly. When the young bii-ds (which I have seen in every
stage) have been some time in the nest, of course the hole gets veiy foul.
“ Here, then, is a case capable of being attested by two or three witnesses step by step, and concerning
which there can be no doubt, where liie Kingfisher is proved to have made its own hole. I have kuoAvn it,
when diivon from one bank by floods, to revert to an old hole of its own making in a previous year; but never
has there been an instance of its taking up with the abode of its most deadly enemy, the water-rat. I t is hard
to prove a negative, but it is certainly a most unlikely thing for a Kingfisher to enter a rat-hole. No one who
has seen the eggs of this species in situ as often as I have, can dony that the fish-bones are placed Avith the
design of maldng a nest. “ G eo . D aw s o n E o w l e t , 5, Peel Terrace, Brighton, Oct. 23.”
In tk e Field newspaper for May 1869, the following in terestin g communication
is made b y some one tvriting u n d e r th e soubriquet o f “ H a n ts " :—
“ I fancy th a t th e op p o rtu n ity o f seeing a Kingfisher on its n e st is so rare an
occurence th a t you may th in k i t tvorth reporting. One has built, if 1 may use the term,
near my house, u nder circumstances so favourable to observation, th a t th e only drawback
to the indulgence o f curiosity is the feiu* o f scai’ing the b irds and th e risk o f attractin g
m ara u d e rs ; aud I only reg re t th a t the fact was n o t discovered sufficiently early to arrange
a closer w atch on th eir proceedings. L a st autumn I had occasion to require some hundreds
o f cubic y a rd s o f soil for a river embankment, and these were obtained close to th e stream
by an excavation leaving a perpendicular side some 12 feet high. About seA^en Aveeks ago
I noticed two holes about half-Avay u p tliis side, freslily made, and evidently scooped o u t by
birds, tlie action o f th e claws leaving a faint rid g e on the floor o f th e burroAV. Being
occupied Avith o th er matters, i t only struck me as v ery early for Sand-Martins, and I Avent
my Avay. My. schoolboys coming home, with keener in te rest in nests, saAv, however, about
a fo rtn ig h t late r, a Kingfisher fly out o f the holloAv, and appljdng to^ the prmcipal burroAV
the te s t o f the nose, indicated b y McGillivray, found ‘ confirmation strong ’ in the
‘ ancient and fish-like smell.’ The second burrow, a few feet distant, was evidently a
beginning, fru s tra ted b y Avorkmen, who have d eterred the birds (vdiether th e same pair or
r .
Î