RINGED KINGFISHER 135 



Eggs. — The ringed kingfisher apparently lays three to six eggs 

 to a set; probably four and five are the commonest numbers. What 

 few eggs I have seen are pure white; they vary in shape from 

 ovate to short-ovate; and the shells are smooth and quite glossy. 

 The measurements of 19 eggs average 43.72 by 34.52 millimeters; 

 the eggs showing the four extremes measure 46.8 by 35, 43.7 by 35.6, 

 and 39.7 by 32.5 millimeters. 



Young. — On the morning of March 28, the female arrived, at the 

 first burrow examined by Mr. Skutch, at sunrise, an unusually early 

 hour for her to appear, and seemed to be excited. He opened the 

 burrow and found that two of the eggs had hatched. The nestlings 

 were "pink skinned and were without the least vestige of feathers. 

 They could already stand upright, supporting themselves on their 

 feet and belly, and attempted to walk, which they did in a weak and 

 tottering fashion." Three of the eggs in the other nest hatched the 

 same day; as he removed the stone from the rear, "a sizzling noise 

 arose from the earth," and two of the nestlings retreated into the 

 tunnel with their mother, where they could not be reached. 



Soon after the young in the first nest had hatched, some malicious 

 person dug into the burrow at both ends but could not reach the 

 young in the tunnel. Three of these nestlings eventually died, but 

 the parents continued to feed and brood the fourth in the exposed 

 and gaping burrow. Then, Mr. Skutch continues: "Stuffed with 

 whole fish to the bursting point, the single nestling grew at a tre- 

 mendous rate. Its eyes opened by the tenth day, when it uttered a 

 high-pitched, trilling sound in response to its parents' rattle. It 

 was 14 days before the upper mandible caught up to the lower in 

 length. The young kingfisher was beginning to defend itself with 

 energy and bit hard with its great mandibles whenever I picked it 

 up. A few days later it squealed and fought like a fury. When 4 

 weeks old it was fully feathered except for the naked belly, which 

 rested upon the sandy floor of the foul burrow. To its biting and 

 squealing it now added an alarm rattle almost as loud as that of the 

 parents, which at length drew one of them, w^ho answered in kind. 

 Still it did not attempt to flutter, and when I placed it on the ground 

 it could do no more than hop along with outstretched wings. It re- 

 mained in the burrow a full week after it was completely feathered, 

 and finally departed at the age of 34 or 35 days. 



"Although this nestling was one of the most vociferous I ever 

 encountered, its struggles and cries were very mild in comparison 

 with those of the single youngster who survived in the burrow down- 

 stream." "When about 4 weeks old, it was almost as big as its parents. 

 When he attempted to reach it from the back of the nest, "it fled 

 through the tunnel and jumped into the river, where it spread its 

 wings, turned upstream, and flapped its way slowly against the 



