° DUSKY, GRAY, AND SLATE-COLORED 315 
bill and queer toes with their shovel-shaped nails, two 
of which have become united half their length through 
constant service of this sort. His method of starting the 
hole is similar to that of the bank swallow. Hovering 
in front of the bank, he 
strikes again and again a 
as a hummingbird drives 
his bill into a flower tube, 
until a small break has 
been made in the clay or 
sand of the bank. This 
is enlarged with bill and 
claws until he gradually 
disappears in it, only a 
shower of sand occasion- 
ally testifying to his prog- 
ress. As in the case of 
the flickers, both male 
and female work at the exca- Ge 
vating, changing about every i 
twenty minutes. The one who amt 
has been resting returns to a 390, Beuren Kryerister. 
perch near by, uttering the — « ie strikes again and again.” 
characteristic ery, —this time 
not expressing anger, —and almost instantly the mate 
leaves the hole and flies off to his or her fishing, 
taking no notice of the relief guard, who promptly 
enters the burrow and resumes work. When the 
nest is completed and the first one of the six or seven 
white eggs has been laid, the mother bird broods con- 
