124 BULLETIN 17 6, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM 



note, referred to above by Mr. Allen, was "a mewing note uttered 

 in rapid succession, almost if not quite as loud as the familiar rattle." 

 Tlien there is the whining note, referred to by Mr. Carey above, 

 "resembling the grating of two tree boughs in the wind," which 

 seems to be a note of anger while quarreling over fishing rights. 

 Brewster (1937a) says that "on such occasions they often utter a 

 harsh cah-car-car-car^ quite unlike the usual volley of watclnnan's 

 rattle-like notes." 



Field marks. — The kingfisher could hardly be mistaken for any- 

 thing else. Its shape is distinctive, its large head and crest and its 

 long, heavy bill are all out of proportion to its small body, short tail, 

 and tiny feet. As it flies its great blue wings, its white collar, and 

 its banded breast are unique. Its loud, rattling note proclaims it 

 beyond doubt. 



Enemies. — The most serious enemies of the kingfisher are the self- 

 ish fisherman, who wants all the fish for himself and begrudges 

 the poor bird an honest living, and the proprietor of a trout hatchery, 

 who is unwilling to go to the trouble and expense of screening his 

 pools to protect his fish. The former shoots every kingfisher he can 

 with misguided satisfaction; the latter either shoots or traps any 

 that visit his pools. A small, unbaited, steel trap is set and fastened 

 to the top of a stake or post near the bird's favorite fishing pool ; if 

 the trap is so set that the pan is at the highest point, the bird is almost 

 sure to alight on it and is caught. Hundreds of kingfishers are caught 

 and killed in this way along private trout streams, or about trout 

 hatcheries, every year. 



The natural enemies of the kingfisher are of no great menace to 

 its welfare. The Cooper's and the sharp-shinned hawks often pursue 

 it, perhaps largely for sport ; under the accounts of these two hawks, 

 in a previous volume, will be found references to these attacks and the 

 successful attempts of the kingfisher to escape by diving; it even 

 seems as if the kingfisher enjoyed the sport, judged by its derisive 

 "laughter" at the defeat of the hawk. 



The remains of a kingfisher have been found in the stomach of a 

 red-tailed hawk ; the former must have been caught unaware, for the 

 hawk is no match for it in flight. The kingbird sometimes makes life 

 miserable for the kingfisher; Fred T. Jencks (1881) writes: 



The Kingfisher had poised himself several times to look for fish, and was 

 just moving to do so again as the Kingbird approached and attacked him. The 

 Kingfisher is not a troublesome bird, and always minds his own business. 

 He was entirely unprepared, and acted as though he could not believe that 

 the other had any evil intentions, for he tried to poise again. The second 

 attack seemed to undeceive him, and show him his enemy was in earnest. He 

 vaulted and turned, vainly endeavoring to rid himself of his persecutor. He 

 soon saw he could not save himself by flight and tried diving. As soon, how- 



