::::::::»x CA^IPING IN A BARRANCA ;*:::;;:::: 



The devoted pair, whose fishing-ground was about 

 our pool, guarded their preserve carefully, and when 

 a third individual appeared he was hustled unceremo- 

 niously off, and hunted out of sight. A glimpse of an 

 episode in the life of this pair of tiny kingfishers was 

 given to me early one morning, when I was lazily 

 swimming across the pool. A great clicking and dart- 

 ing about of these birds drew my attention to them, 

 and I perceived that an unwelcome third kingfisher 

 had appeared, a female, judging from her green-banded 

 breast. This was no ordinary intruder, and the most 

 vicious attacks upon her by the other female failed 

 to drive her away. I had noticed before that when 

 the intruder chanced to be a male bird, the male of the 

 mated pair figured most prominently in the process of 

 eviction. 



Now the females flew at each other, clinched and 

 fell to the sand, striking savagely with their long, 

 pointed beaks. Having gained a firm foothold, I was 

 able to watch every detail in this tragic scene. From 

 the very first attack, the stranger seemed to have the 

 best of it, and soon her superiority in strength was 

 very apparent. Our little mated bird grew weaker 

 until she appeared hardly able to stand upright. I 

 began advancing through the water, intending to take 

 a hand in vanquishing this stranger Amazon, when 

 the male, who had been hovering and clicking excitedly 

 near by, dashed to the unequal combatants and took 



- ■»4 145 -^ 



