BELTED KING-FISHER. 595 



This wild and grotesque looking feathered angler is a 

 well known inhabitant of the borders of fresh waters 

 from Hudson's Bay to the tropics. His delight is to 

 dwell amidst the most sequestered scenes of uncultivated 

 nature, by the borders of running rivulets, the roar of the 

 water-fall, or amidst the mountain streamlets which 

 abound with the small fish and insects constituting his 

 accustomed fare. Mill-dams, and the shelving and fria- 

 able banks of water-courses, suited for the sylvan retreat 

 of his mate and brood, have also peculiar and necessary 

 attractions for our retiring King-Fisher. By the broken, 

 bushy, or rocky banks of his solitary and aquatic retreat, 

 he may often be seen perched on some dead and project- 

 ing branch, scrutinizing the waters for his expected 

 prey ; if unsuccessful, he quickly courses the meanders 

 of the streams or borders of ponds, just above their sur- 

 face, and occasionally hovers for an instant, with rapidly 

 moving wings, over the spot where he perceives his glid- 

 ing quarry ; in the next instant, descending with a quick 

 spiral sweep, he seizes a fish from the timid fry, with 

 which he rises to his post, and swallows it in an instant. 

 When startled from the perch, on which he spends many 

 vacant hours digesting his prey, he utters commonly a 

 loud, harsh, and grating cry, very similar to the interrupt- 

 ed creakings of a watchman's rattle, and almost, as it 

 were, the vocal counterpart to the watery tumult amidst 

 which he usually resides. 



The nest, a work of much labor, is riow- burrowed in 

 some dry and sandy, or more tenacious bank of earth, 

 situated beyond the reach of inundation. At this task 

 both the parties join with bill and claws, until they have 

 horizontally perforated the bank to the depth of 5 or 6 

 feet. With necessary precaution, the entrance is only 

 left sufficient for the access of a single bird. The ex- 



