COPEIA 27 



eye, lOVi in. Diameter of eye, 1% in. Front of eye 

 to nostril, 3 in. Width of nostril, \ l A in. Distance 

 between inner margins of nostrils, 4 8 /4 in. Mixoptery- 

 gia, iy± in. 



A fuller account of this specimen with photo- 

 graphs of the freshly-captured fish and figures of an- 

 atomical details will shortly be published. 



L. Hussakof, 



New York, N. Y. 



ON FISH-BONES IN A KINGFISHER'S 



NEST. 



Through the kindness of Mr. S. H. Chubb of the 

 American Museum the writer has had for examina- 

 tion a mass of fish-bones, scales, etc., from the recent- 

 ly occupied nest of a kingfisher, and has looked it 

 through to determine the species of fish eaten in this 

 case. The results have both an ichthyological and or- 

 nithological interest. 



'<->■ 



The nest referred to was placed in a bank about 

 one-quarter of a mile from Van Cortlandt Lake, New 

 York City. It was occupied by young kingfishers 29 

 days between the times of hatching and departure. 

 Immediately after they had gone Mr. Chubb removed 

 about two quarts of soil from the bottom of the nest, 

 and from this about 220 cubic centimeters of clean 

 bones, scales, etc., was obtained, representing prob- 

 ably three-quarters of all the fish remains in the nest. 



The most striking single objects among the bones 

 were the beautifully preserved tooth-bearing pharyn- 

 geals of small cyprinids, of which there were 11.3. The 

 mass was carefully gone over for readily recognizable 

 bones of other fishes and surprisingly few encoun- 

 tered. Lower jaw bones of 2 or 3 small pickerel 

 (Esoa 1 ), 3 to 5 inches in length, were noted; also the 

 opercle of a yellow perch (Perca flaveseens) , about 



