50 BIRDS OF THE AVATER 



incessantly, and even chewing oft' eaeli 

 others tail feathers. 



At night neither parent stops in the 

 breeding chamber. After dark, if their 

 snag was jarred or shaken, the indignant 

 nestlings used to tw^angle and hiss and 

 shriek their loudest. If, however, the 

 jarring continued, they would lapse into 

 dead utter silence. 



The winter habits of Kingfishers here at 

 Tutira depend on weather conditions; cold 

 spells will drive them coastwards, and they 

 will return with warmer airs. Twice during 

 the present winter this has occurred. Up to 

 mid-June the whole ten seemed to be about 

 the orchards and lawn, then on the night 

 of the 13th the thermometer dropped to 31 

 degrees in the screen, and next morning 

 apparently CA'ery bird was gone. 



I was a])le to obtain several medium 

 photographs from this nest, of the parents 

 carrying in lizards and later in the season 

 cicadas, and also one of the fouj* full- 

 fledged nestlings seated in a row on a wil- 

 low stick. 



