The Birds' Calendar 



abandoned, I did not consider that I was mak- 

 ing myself Hable for house-breaking, nor that it 

 was an act of vandalism to draw out a quantity 

 of feathers and fine roots — the material common- 

 ly used in their nests. Many of the nests con- 

 tained little or none of this material, which 

 seemed almost superfluous, considering the sub- 

 stratum of soft sand. These swallows are to be 

 congratulated for the instinct that prompts them 

 to select such a singular location for their abode 

 — so comfortable and thoroughly protected, im- 

 pervious to rain and wind. 



Hovering about the same stream could be 

 seen the belted kingfisher, very much of a water- 

 fowl in instinct and physiognomy, if not in anat- 

 omy. Alighting upon a bush close beside me, 

 his amazement at 'discovering the intrusion (of 

 course / was the intruder, not he) made him 

 motionless for an instant, and then with awk- 

 ward grace and coarse cry he dashed out of sight 

 down the stream. In a neighboring bank I 

 found his nest, or that of some other kingfisher, 

 modelled after that of the bank swallow, but 

 much larger and deeper — a straight tunnel at 

 least five feet long. 



Along this stream I often found a pair of 

 sandpipers, with their ludicrous, teetering bodies 

 228 



