KINGFISHER. 445 



with a skilful toss in the air, or twist between the mandibles, 

 it is again caught head-foremost and swallowed. Insects 

 require less force to render them helpless, and are usually 

 disposed of more readily. 



The Kingfisher is solitary in its habits, and except in the 

 breeding-season two are seldom seen at once without one 

 being in angry chace of the other. It pairs in midwinter or 

 very early in the spring, and the same spot is not uncom- 

 monly occupied year after year for the nest, which is almost 

 invariably placed in a hole in a bank, dug out by the birds ; * 

 and, though the site chosen is generally within the limits of 

 their customary beat, many instances of their going far from 

 their usual haunt are known. Occasionally a convenient 

 lodging is found in the crumbling soil under the roots of a 

 tree, especially when some drooping boughs afford a screen, 

 and, though rarely, a hole in masonry adapted (Zool. s.s. p. 

 5080). The height above the water seems to be immaterial; 

 indeed the vicinity of water is not at all needed, for, since 

 Jesse's account (Gleanings, iii. p. 92) of a nest in the bank 

 of a dry gravel-pit, used as a rubbish-hole, in Hampton 

 Court Gardens, in 1834, several observations to the same 

 effect are on record. That nest was close to a much frequented 

 footpath, and other instances are known in which the birds 

 have shown no fear of the presence of man. Mr. A. C. Smith 

 pointed out to the Editor a hole by the side of a pond in the 

 yard of a large dairy-farm surrounded by buildings, and the 

 almost hourly resort of numerous cattle and their attendants, 

 which had for years contained a Kingfisher's nest. On the 

 other hand a retired spot is much more frequently chosen, 

 and occasionally one which would be thought most unlikely, 

 for the Editor has seen a nest in the side of a chalk-pit, in 

 an open field, nearly a mile from any water. 



Kingfishers, like many other birds, throw up the indi- 



* It has been often stated, and perhaps is most commonly believed, that they 

 take possession of the burrow of a water-rat, but proof of the fact seems want- 

 ing, while not only have they been frequently observed boring their own hole ; 

 but, where the soil is hard, Dr. Kutter (Journ. f. Orn. 1SG7. pp. 44, 45) haa 

 noticed that their upper mandible, which seems to be the tool chiefly used in 

 excavation, becomes worn down by the labour. 



