STRANGE BED-FELLOWS 



The very opposite in temperament is the Belted King- 

 fisher, our only species of this interesting sub-order. 

 No bird is more conspicuous than this most royal 

 fisherman of all our small land birds, sounding its loud 

 rattle as it flies over land or stream, or perching on 

 some conspicuous stub by the shore from which it can 

 watch for the small fish to rise to the surface. Suddenly 

 it plunges headlong into the water with a loud splash, 

 and, emerging, flies off with a triumphant announce- 

 ment, like the hen, which tries to publish world-wide 

 the glorious fact that she has laid an egg. 



Sometimes, though rarely, the kingfishers are seen 

 in the land of ice and snow during the winter, but at 

 any rate they come back early, toward the end of 

 March or in early April. Before long they get to work 

 digging their nesting burrows in some gravel bank not 

 far from water, though not necessarily right by the 

 shore. Often they choose a cut in a road or railway, 

 or a spot where a farmer has excavated for sand or 

 gravel. They are great diggers and go in as much as 

 six feet, with turns in the tunnel, too, to avoid rocks. 

 At the end there is a wider chamber or pocket where 

 six or seven good-sized white eggs are laid on the earth, 

 surrounded by an ever-increasing pile of fish bones, 

 the remains of the regular fish dinners. 



In years past I had seen various kingfishers* holes, 

 and had dug one out to examine the nest and young, 

 but I had no photographs. So, when I realized that 

 a certain chapter must be written and needed king- 



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