EASTERN BELTED KINGFISHER 121 



drowned at the next high tide. Dr. B. H. Warren (1890) reports 

 that a friend of his once caught one of these birds on a hook and 

 line while fishing with a live minnow for bait. He also says: "One 

 day B. M. Everhart found a kingfisher lying on the bank of a 

 small stream. On making an investigation, Mr. Everhart ascer- 

 tained that the bird was unable to fly, as its bill was tightly clasped 

 in the grasp of a large fresh-water mussel. I have heard of several 

 instances where kingfishers have been captured under similar circum- 

 stances, which could naturally lead one to suppose that they feed to 

 a limited degree on the flesh of these bivalves." 



In the Bermudas, kingfishers are said to feed on squids. Walter B. 

 Barrows (1912) quotes Professor Aughey, of Nebraska, as follows: 

 "One that was sent to me to identify in September, 1874, had 18 

 locusts, in addition to portions of some fish, in its stomach. One 

 that I opened in September, 1876, had mingled at least 14 locusts 

 with its fish diet." Bendire (1895) caught a kingfisher in a trap 

 baited with a mouse, and believed "that not a few mice, and possibly 

 small birds also, are caught by them during their nocturnal rambles, 

 and they are certainly fully as active throughout the night as in the 

 daytime." 



Kingfishers disgorge as pellets the indigestible portions of their 

 food, such as fish bones and scales, the shells of crutaceans and the 

 seeds of berries; the bones and scales found in the nests are the 

 remains of such pellets. Henry R. Carey (1909) writes: 



Only once have I seen a pellet of fishbones and scales being disgorged from 

 the bird's beak, as he sat on his hunting perch. These pellets are found 

 wherever the birds are accustomed to sit for any length of time. I once 

 found one completely composed of various parts of the shell of a small crab. 

 Only a few days later I had the pleasure of seeing a crab actually caught. 

 The bird captured him by diving in the usual way and took him to a low rock 

 where he proceeded to bang him just as he would have done to a minnow. 

 During this process the crab, which measured an inch and a half sideways 

 across the shell, lost several legs and was dropped upon the rock, from which 

 by a considerable effort he managed to fall by scrambling to the edge with his 

 remaining legs. The bird, perhaps seeing that he was rather a large morsel 

 to swallow whole, then forgot him completely and went on with his fishing. 



Ora W. Knight (1908) has seen kingfishers chase and capture 

 moths and butterflies, taking them on the wing. Dr. Thomas S. 

 Roberts (1932) says that they have been known to eat young spar- 

 rows; also that "crawfish are pounded and crushed before swallow- 

 ing, and fish that are too large may be divided into pieces by the 

 powerful bill. Miss Densmore, of Red Wing, once saw a Kingfisher 

 that was making unsuccessful attempts to handle a small turtle. 

 This was thoroughly pounded and variously manipulated but had to 

 be discarded in the end." 



17S223— 40 9 



