-31 BIKDS OF THE WATER 



The Kingfishers, liowever, would not re- 

 turn to their new made hole, but almost 

 at once again attempted the original snag, 

 and again gave it up in despair. 



My notes give the date of first work as 

 September 4th. On the 15th they wxre 

 tunnelling in the new log set U]> for them. 

 On September 30th they were dispossessed 

 by Starlings. On October 9th and 10th 

 they attempted the log set up on the edge 

 of the lawn. 



This, it will be remembered, was another 

 of the snags artifically established some 

 weeks previously. On the afternoon of the 

 10th the pair were very busy taking turns 

 at their work, the bird not occupied seated 

 on a lo^v bough close to the log, while the 

 other tmmelled hard and scraped out with 

 its little feet the refuse wood. A couple 

 of minutes was about the duration oC each 

 spell of work. Ruberoid had l^een vrra])ped 

 partly round the block, but in spite of this 

 — perhaps because of original damp not 

 ])roperly evaporated, or perha]:>s because of 

 insuflicient decay, the birds ceased work. 



