COMMON KINGFISHER. 181 



Family ALCEDINID^E. Genus ALCEDO. 



COMMON KINGFISHER. 



ALCEDO ISPIDA, Linn&us. 



Single Brooded. Laying season, rather irregular, April, May, 



June. 



BRITISH BREEDING AREA : Due allowance being made 

 for locality the Kingfisher is more or less sparingly 

 distributed throughout the British Islands, with the excep- 

 tion of the Hebrides, the extreme northern portions of 

 the Scottish mainland, the Orkneys, and the Shetlands. 

 It cannot be regarded as abundant anywhere, and in 

 most localities has decreased and continues to decrease 

 in numbers, owing to senseless persecution. 



BREEDING HABITS: The Kingfisher is a resident in 

 our islands. Its favourite breeding-haunts are the fairly 

 well wooded streams and rivers, and the banks of 

 secluded ponds and lakes. I am of opinion that the 

 Kingfisher pairs for life, although the sexes do not keep 

 very close company, except during the nesting season. 

 It is not a gregarious nor even a social species, each bird, 

 or at most each pair, having a vested right in a length of 

 the stream, or the neighbourhood of a pond, to which 

 they keep pretty closely. The nest of the Kingfisher is 

 placed in a hole, usually in the bank of a stream or pool, 

 but now and then in the sides of a gravel- or sand-pit, 

 some distance from the water. Less frequently still a hole 

 in a wall is chosen. In some cases a rat-hole is selected, 

 in others the birds themselves burrow one. In many cases 

 the entrance is concealed either by drooping branches or 

 exposed roots, one of which usually serves as a perching- 

 place for the birds. Occasionally a hole will be made in 

 the same bank that contains a colony of Sand Martins. 



