140 Pictures of Bird Life 



Castings " of Barn-owl. 



and generally succeeds in niakino- a capture. It then resumes 

 its perch, or sometimes another one near at liand. M'ith the 

 prey — if a fish — crosswise in its beak, and it is only swallowed 

 after being repeatedly banged violently against its percli. 



By watching these lovely birds, it is possible to find out 

 their favourite perches along a length of stream. To these 

 they fly regularly, and A'isit one after the other. At one 

 such perch, a thin rootlet sticking out from a bank, I watched 

 at close quarters an adult Kingflsher this year for a long 

 time. He had in his beak a small fish, apparently from the 

 shape a very young Jack. Just abo\'e the bank was a hole, 

 from which apparently a brood of young Kingfishers had 

 recently flown, and I Mas doubtful if they were nesting 

 again, either in the same place or elsewhere near at hand. 

 Momentarily I expected to see it fly into some liole or 

 other, and watched it closely, hoping thereby to discoAcr 

 its nest. Finally, however, after waiting a considerable time, 

 it swallowed the flsh itself, head foremost, after flrst taking it 

 by the tail-end in its l)eak and swinging its head round viciously 



