160 Fish and Game Warden. [Bull. No. 1. 



plunged into the water and came out with a stick a few inches 

 in length, which it placed on the wall. Then it dove into the 

 water for the fifth time and brought up a little twig that had 

 two or three leaves on it, and placed this on the wall. Then 

 the bird preened its feathers as before. It made one more trip 

 into the water and brought up a little bunch of leaves and 

 placed them on the wall. Then, after shaking itself and preen- 

 ing its feathers for a little while, the bird took its departure 

 for some tall cottonwood trees that stood several rods north of 

 the Hatchery building. After the bird had gone we examined 

 the sticks and leaves that had been placed on the wall, but 

 could discover no particular reason why they had been picked 

 up by the bird and left as they were. 



Examination of the stomachs of many kingfishers has shown 

 nothing but fish food. The kingfishers that we examined sel- 

 dom had more than one whole fish in the stomach, in addition 

 to others partly digested, and a bunch of fine bones. 



About the only successful way to get rid of kingfishers, so 

 far as our experience goes, is to shoot them. They may be 

 caught by placing a steel trap on the end of a pole that can be 

 placed in or near the pond. Such a device is objectionable be- 

 cause other birds are frequently caught in the trap. It is hard 

 to understand where so many kingfishers come from, especially 

 in such an out of the way place on the western prairies as 

 where the Hatchery is located. During the months of June, 

 July, August and September we kill, on the average, about a 

 dozen per week. My son, Lindsay, killed twelve last Wednes- 

 day morning before breakfast. He said he got them all. How- 

 ever, next day we noticed three or four flying over the ponds. 



Ospreys or Fish Haivks. 



As a rule, two or three pairs of ospreys, fish hawks or "fish 

 eagles," as these birds are sometimes called, visit the Hatchery 

 each year. They are very destructive to fish. When they are 



Fish hawks, r'roin spciiiiinis iiioun'ed by the author in Kansas University Museum. 



