142 BULLETIN 17 6, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM 



There are four sets of eggs of this kingfisher in the Thayer collec- 

 tion and one in the writer's collection, all taken by, or for, Frank B. 

 Armstrong, near Ciudad Victoria, Tamaulipas, Mexico, between 

 March 12 and 28, 1908. The nests were aU in holes in banks, about 

 3 feet deep and 6 to 8 feet above the water. 



Mr. Skutch says (MS.) that this kingfisher, which he calls the green 

 kingfisher, is one of the five species of birds that nest most commonly 

 in the banks of the streams in the Caribbean lowlands of Central 

 America. "The burrows of the ringed kingfisher are distinguished 

 at once by the large diameter of the tunnel, 6 inches in width. Next 

 in size are those of the Amazon kingfisher, 3% inches wide. Then 

 come those of the turquoise-browed motmot, about 3i^ inches in width ; 

 and finally those of the green kingfisher, only 2 or 214 inches in 

 horizontal diameter. 



"While the burrows of the larger kingfishers and the motmot are 

 placed in plain sight in the bare and exposed banks, so that he who 

 runs may see them, those of the green kingfisher I have found con- 

 cealed by the fringe of vines and dead vegetation draping the top 

 of the bank, or else behind exposed roots, and I discovered them only 

 by seeing a bird enter or leave. Theirs were the last of the three 

 kingfishers' nests I encountered, and I found only two, late in the 

 season, although the species is equally abundant with the Amazon 

 kingfisher. As befits the smaller bird, their burrows are far shorter 

 than those of the larger species. The two I measured were only 22 

 and 25 inches in length. 



"One morning at the end of April, I sat down to eat my breakfast 

 upon a fallen log beside the Quebrada de Arena, a little brook so 

 narrow that one can easily jump across it, flowing through a pasture 

 grown up with low bushes and thorny vine tangles. Presently a male 

 green kingfisher flew downstream, perched on a branch ahead of me, 

 ticked a great deal and seemed excited about my presence. The bird's 

 persistence in remaining in that stretch of the river and his 

 evident excitement renewed my conviction [on a previous visit] that 

 his burrow was not far distant. I removed my shoes and waded up 

 and down, examining every likely bit of bank, while the bird flew 

 back and forth to keep out of my way. I discovered only old burrows 

 whose lack of fresh foot-furrows proclaimed clearly enough they were 

 not in use. Quite baffled, I paused beneath the shelter of some over- 

 hanging bushes to watch the bird, and in a few minutes, after calling 

 again tich tick tick^ he flew up beneath the exposed roots of a dead 

 stump, half washed out, and disappeared. This was almost the exact 

 spot whence I had seen him or his mate emerge three weeks before, 

 but the entrance to the burrow was so well concealed by the overhang 



