462 KINGFISHERS. 



its solitary and aquatic retreat, this bird may often be seen 

 perched on some dead and projecting branch, scrutinizing the 

 waters for its expected prey. If unsuccessful, it quickly courses 

 the meanders of the streams or borders of ponds just above 

 their surface, and occasionally hovers for an instant, with rap- 

 idly moving wings, over the spot where it perceives the gliding 

 quarry ; in the next instant, descending with a quick spiral 

 sweep, a fish is seized from the timid fry, with which it returns 

 to its post and swallows in an instant. When startled from 

 the perch, on which it spends many vacant hours digesting its 

 prey, it utters commonly a loud, harsh, and grating cry, very 

 similar to the interrupted creakings of a watchman's rattle, and 

 almost, as it were, the vocal counterpart to the watery tumult 

 amidst which it usually resides. 



The nest — a work of much labor — is now burrowed in some 

 dry and sandy or more tenacious bank of earth, situated be- 

 yond the reach of inundation. At this task both the parties 

 join with bill and claws, until they have horizontally perforated 

 the bank to the depth of 5 or 6 feet. With necessary precau- 

 tion, the entrance is only left sufficient for the access of a 

 single bird. The extremity, however, is rounded like an oven, 

 so as to allow the individuals and their brood a sufficiency of 

 room. This important labor is indeed prospective, as the same 

 hole is employed for a nest and roost for many succeeding 

 years. Here the eggs are deposited. Incubation, in which 

 both parents engage, continues for sixteen days; and they 

 exhibit great solicitude for the safety of their brood. The 

 mother, simulating lameness, sometimes drops on the water, 

 fluttering as if wounded, and unable to rise from the stream. 

 The male also, perched on the nearest bough, or edge of the 

 projecting bank, jerks his tail, elevates his crest, and passing to 

 and fro before the intruder, raises his angry and vehement 

 rattle of complaint (Audubon). At the commencement of 

 winter, the frost obliges our humble Fisher to seek more open 

 streams, and even the vicinity of the sea ; but it is seen to 

 return to Pennsylvania by the commencement of April. 



