18 ALCED1K1D.K. 



remained quiet, I should riot be noticed, and had at the same time 

 the nest within full view. Taking out a pair of opera-glasses, 

 which I find most useful for this kind of work, I had not long to 

 wait before one of the birds came back, and, after taking a good 

 look at the nest, he went away again and returned in a few minutes 

 with a mass of wet moss in his bill ; clinging to the edge of the 

 hole it commenced forcing this moss into that already placed at the 

 base of the hollow, pushing it with the point and pressing it with 

 the sides of the bill, and seeming to use all the force it was 

 capable of. I could see no attempt at fastening the moss together 

 or of intertwining it in any way, and this nest, when afterwards 

 examined, proved to consist of layers of moss placed one on the 

 top of the other. The force used in pressing the wet and muddy 

 material together had rendered it sufficiently stable to stand the 

 work required of it by the bird, but finally on one piece at the 

 base being removed the whole structure at once came to pieces. 

 Both birds worked at the nest hard for upwards of an hour, until 

 nearly 10 A.M., when, as they seemed to have finished work for the 

 time being, I went away. I left the camp the next day and did 

 not return for nearly a month, when I took six eggs from the nest, 

 two of which began to show signs of having been sat on, though 

 the others appeared to be fresh. 



" They lay from four to six or even seven eggs, which are, as 

 usual, both white and round. The size varies very much with 

 different individuals. When the eggs of this or of any other King- 

 fisher are first blown, they may be seen to have a peculiar marking, 

 resembling what is known as the water-mark on watered white 

 satin ribbon. This is only observable when held up to the light 

 and it soon fades ; but it is sufficient to distinguish the eggs of 

 Kingfishers from other white round eggs, such as those of the Bee- 

 eaters and others. The eggs are extremely hard and close in 

 texture and are highly glossed ; so close is the grain that if a drop 

 of ink be placed on the egg and wiped off in a minute, it will be 

 seen that none has penetrated into the shell. 



" The situation chosen for the nest is more often than not in 

 dense forest, and may be either the bank of a running stream, a 

 ravine with deep precipitous banks, a steep hillside, .or any other 

 suitable place which can afford both protection from much sunlight 

 and safety from interference from living things other than birds 

 themselves. 



" They breed only in the valley, never, as far as I know, 

 ascending to any height for this purpose ; 4000 feet is the highest 

 altitude at which I have taken their nests. 



" I have taken, or had brought to me, eggs on the Oth of April 

 and on intervening dates up to the 26th of July. 



" The habits of this bird are almost as peculiar as are his Mays 

 of nidificatiou. Fish form a very minor part of his diet ; a 

 principal part of it is locusts and crickets, and this it takes by 

 swooping down on them from some perch as if "diving after fish, 

 and seizing them from the bushes and grass, without halting in its 



