TEXAS KINGFISHER 143 



of the top of the bank, the projecting roots and the vines which draped 

 over them, that it had completely escaped me. 



"I lost no time in opening the burrow. The male flew out with 

 the second push I gave the machete which I used to dig, for the tunnel 

 sloped upward so sharply that the nesting chamber was less than 

 three inches below the surface of the ground, and I broke through 

 into the rear of it before I supposed I had well started to dig. There 

 were three white eggs, well advanced in incubation, to judge from 

 their opacity. The male fluttered several times in front of the burrow, 

 eager to enter before it had been closed again. I fitted a stone over 

 the small aperture I had made, covered it with earth, and placed logs 

 across the roof of the nesting chamber, to prevent the mules' stepping 

 upon it and possibly breaking through. The birds continued to 

 incubate. 



"The pair arranged their turns on the eggs in much the same man- 

 ner as the Amazon kingfishers. The female spent each night on the 

 nest. Soon after 6 a. m. the male flew downstream, low above the 

 water, uttering at intervals the high-pitched cheep^ w^hich is his flight 

 call. He perched on one of the roots of the old stump projecting in 

 front of the nest and called tick tick tick in a low voice, which his mate 

 heard in the burrow. She came forth, greeting him with a single 

 cheep, as she flew swiftly past and turned down the brook to her feed- 

 ing grounds. Her behavior was rather erratic. 



"One morning she could not aw^ait his arrival, although he was 

 hardly late. She popped out of the nest without warning and flew 

 off, but a minute later the pair returned together. The male went to 

 the root in front of the burrow, ticked just as much as he was accus- 

 tomed to do to call off his mate, although he could certainly see she 

 was not inside, then entered the empty burrow. The following morn- 

 ing she acted in quite another manner. Just after 6, on a cloudy 

 morning after a night of hard rain, the male flew downstream, perched 

 in front of the burrow, and ticked for her to come forth, but she paid 

 no heed to his repeated calls. He flew a few rods downstream, then 

 returned to call tick tick tick again. Still no response, so he flew away 

 out of sight. Ten minutes later he reappeared and perched again on 

 the root in front of the burrow, where he called at intervals for two 

 minutes before at length she darted forth. Then he entered for the 

 morning. The male incubated until the female returned from her 

 breakfast to relieve him. One morning she left him on the nest less 

 than two hours, but the next it was nearly three. She covered the 

 eggs for the remainder of the morning. The male was chiefly respon- 

 sible for keeping them warm during the afternoon, until his mate 

 called him from the nest and entered for the night at some time between 

 5 and 6 o'clock." 



