208 HALCYONIDE. 



in the gardens of Hampton Conrt Palace, discovered a King- 

 fisher's nest in the bank of a small gravel-pit in the Wilderness 

 of that place, and within a short distance of the public foot- 

 path leading through it, and which is much frequented. 

 There were six eggs in the nest, which was composed as 

 usual of small fish bones, and was placed about two feet in 

 the bank. The small gravel-pit was perfectly dry, and the 

 workmen were in the constant habit of throwing the sweepings 

 of the garden into it. The old birds showed but little fear 

 of the workmen, and this led to the discovery of the nest. 



Kingfishers, like many other birds, possess the power of 

 reproducing the contents of the stomach at pleasure. This 

 faculty is very useful to them in reference to their nestlings, 

 enabling the parent birds not only to bring home a larger 

 quantity of food than they could otherwise carry, but also of 

 partially preparing that food, and thus rendering it more 

 suitable to the tender stomachs of their infant brood. This 

 power of emptying the stomach is at other times only exer- 

 cised to discharge the more indigestible portions of the food 

 they swallow, as noticed in all the Birds of Prey, as also in 

 the Shrikes, and some other birds which occasionally feed on 

 large coleopterous insects. The rejection by the Kingfisher 

 appears to be performed frequently when the bird is in the 

 hole chosen as an abode, the Avhole ground surface of which is 

 sometimes covered with bones of small fishes, and upon these 

 bones the female deposits her eggs, generally from five to 

 seven in number, of a short oval form, almost round, mea- 

 suring ten lines and a half in length, by nine lines in breadth, 

 of a smooth and shining white when blown, but previously 

 exhibiting a delicate pink tinge from the influence of the 

 colour of the yelk, which pervades the transparent albumen 

 and thin shell. 



The young, Mr. Gould observes, do not leave the hole till 

 fully fledged and capable of flight ; when, seated on some 



