458 THE BELTED KINGFISHER. 
of six or eight birds seen in August or early in September does not 
mean that Kingfisher is indulging in mid-summer gaities with his fellows, 
but only that the family group of that season has not yet been broken up. 
The Kingfisher is not only a fresh water bird of wide distribution, but 
a lover of the sea. It is found thruout the length of our ample shores on 
both sound and ocean; but is, of course, most common where suitable nesting 
bluffs of clay or sand are afforded.- Thruout western Washington the bird 
is largely resident, and if this very stable species ever does begin to show 
variation, it will be in the Pacific Northwest. 
