225 



she came last. She watched it long and very closely, ner- 

 vously flirting her tail just as sandpipers are wont to do. x\t 

 least once she changed the position of the fish she carried 

 by tossing it a few inches in the air and catching it again. 

 Having satisfied herself that the camera was not alive^ after 

 a great deal of scolding, she flew directly to the entrance 



Fig. 191. The hank cut away to show the little ''fishers'' at 

 the end of the tunnel. 



to her home; greatly to my surprise, she alighted neither on 

 the roots nor on the edge of the hole, but seemed to dash 

 right in without a pause. Her departure was almost as 

 rapid; she backed out the length of the tunnel and^ just 

 as her tail appeared at the opening, whirled about and was 

 off in a flash. 



During half a dozen visits that she made, she entered 

 and left in the same manner ; as I was not prepared to make 

 moving pictures, the best 1 could do was to "get her" back- 

 ing out, just as she started to turn about. The bird shown 



15 



