EASTERN BELTED KINGFISHER 125 



ever, as he appeared at tlie surface he attempted to fly, but the Kingbird, 

 keeping up an incessant twittering, forced him to dive again. Two or three 

 times this was repeated, both birds making considerable noise, until the King- 

 fisher seemed convinced that escape in that direction was impossible, so he sat 

 like a duck upon the surface, and as his persecutor would swoop at him he 

 would go under. This lasted for some little time, until even the Kingbird 

 seemed wearied and flew away. 



Snakes and perhaps skunks or minks may crawl into the nesting 

 holes, while the parent birds are away, and destroy the eggs or 

 young ; but it would seem that the formidable beak of the kingfisher, 

 if at home, would prove to be an effective weapon of defense. H. H. 

 Bailey (1907) says: "While digging out some Kingfishers' nests this 

 season I was surprised to find a dead bird in about every fourth 

 or fifth hole. This I was at loss to account for, as the birds showed 

 no signs of combat or disease, while the plumage was not even dis- 

 arranged. The bodies, though, seemed to be dried up, with no signs 

 of blood in them, so I presumed that something had crawled into the 

 holes and sucked the blood from them, leaving the carcass intact. 

 This surmise proved correct, as the last hole I dug out contained a 

 large black snake, and a dead kingfisher still warm." 



I quote the above for Avhat it is worth, but cannot agree with Mr. 

 Bailey's conclusion. I have never heard that the black snake is a 

 blood-sucker and doubt if it would attack a bird as big as a king- 

 fisher. If such well-known blood-suckers as minks or weasels had 

 attacked the bird, there would have been evidences of a struggle. 

 I believe that the snake was looking for eggs. The kingfishers may 

 have died from an epidemic of roundworms or ringworms, which 

 have often proved fatal to these birds. 



Frederic H. Kennard told me that while he was fishing on Grand 

 Lake, Maine, he and his daughter heard a splash behind them and 

 their guide saw a kingfisher dive, disappear beneath the surface and 

 not come up. Although they all watched for some time, the bird 

 never appeared. They paddled over to the place where the king- 

 fisher dived but could see no trace of the bird in the water or in 

 the air. They suspected that some of the large fish, pickerel, salmon, 

 or togue, that abound in that lake, may have caught the kingfisher. 



Arthur W. Brockway tells me of a nest that was dug into by a 

 skunk and the young devoured, the excavation being made from 

 above the nest. 



Winter. — The belted kingfisher is a hardy bird, and remains as 

 far north in fall and winter as it can find open water in which to 

 catch a fair supply of fish, A few kingfishers remain all winter, 

 especially during mild winters, in southern New England, frequent- 

 ing to some extent the open inland streams, but more regularly along 

 the southern coast from Cape Cod to Long Island Sound. 



