9 o KINGFISHER 



frequented by Sand Martins, and one is recorded in "Jesse's 

 Gleanings in Natural History," as having been placed in 

 the bank of a dry gravel pit, near Hampton Court ; another 

 has been found "in a hole on the margin of the sea, a 

 quarter of a mile distant from a rivulet." The young 

 remain in the nest until fully fledged, and able to fly. For 

 a short time they then, perched on some neighbouring 

 branch, receive their food from their parents, who both pur- 

 vey for them, and whose approach is greeted with clamorous 

 twittering, but they soon learn to fish for themselves. 



The young, says Saunders, are known to have been out 

 of the nest by March n, and they have been found inside 

 as late as July 24, so that two broods are probably pro- 

 duced in some seasons. 



The eggs, six or seven in number, are transparent 

 white, and readily distinguished by their rotund form. 



