412 The Kingfisher. [Sess. 



kingfisher, with a small fish in its bill, frequently flying up the 

 brook which divides the Ladykirk and Milne-Graden estates, 

 in Berwickshire. Following the stream, I saw the bird dis- 

 appear under a large tree, the roots of which grew down out- 

 side the bank, forming a kind of arbour. Observing a hole in 

 the bank under the roots, I thrust in my arm, and found half- 

 a-dozen birds nearly fledged. Having examined them, I re- 

 turned them to the nest, which appeared to be in strange 

 contrast to the beautiful plumage of the birds. The stench 

 was intolerable, and it was days ere I could get rid of it on 

 my hands and clothes. The excrement of kingfishers being of 

 a liquid consistency, the parent birds are unable to carry it 

 out, as is the habit with water-ousels and some other birds 

 which breed in holes ; and this, along with the bones and 

 scales of fish which constitute the castings, decomposes, and 

 emits a most obnoxious efiiuvium. 



During the last twenty years I have taken a great interest 

 in observing kingfishers beside the brook which flows past my 

 cottage. After the severe winter of 1880-81 they disappeared 

 for some years ; but, much to my delight, they have again re- 

 turned. It is only in winter that they may be said to dwell with 

 us at Liberton, as in spring they migrate to more secluded locali- 

 ties to breed. Notwithstanding the shortness of their wings, 

 the velocity of their flight is very great, their brilliant hues 

 flashing in the sun, as they dart past, like a " living emerald." 

 Sometimes I have seen one sit for a long time on a twig of a 

 hedge or bush, or on the grassy bank a few yards from the 

 stream, till sighting some small fish, when he would dart like 

 lightning into the water, remaining a second below the surface, 

 but returning, if unsuccessful, to the same spot, to await an- 

 other opportunity. At other times I have seen them hovering 

 in the air like an osprey, then swooping down in an instant 

 on perceiving a fish. Most naturalists assert that they are 

 generally unerring in their aim, and seldom fail in making a 

 capture. This, liowever, does not comport with my own ob- 

 servation, as I have seen them over and over again unsuc- 

 cessful. When they do catch a fish, they fly to a post or 

 stone — at The Inch a water-gate is a favourite resort — when 

 they seize the fish firmly, beat it violently till they kill it, 

 when it disappears head first down their throat. When feed- 



