Finley & Bohlman 

 FIG. 225. Young kingfishers. 



CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE 



THE KINGFISHER 



IN the Malay Archipelago 

 are many kinds of beautiful 

 kingfishers, but in North 

 America, north of southern 

 Texas, we have only one 

 species of this large family. 

 It is 13 inches long and is 

 considerably larger than a 

 robin. Its upper parts are 

 bluish gray. It is easy to 

 distinguish it by its crested 



head and long, stout, straight beak. As it flies it utters 

 a loud, harsh, rattling cry. 



The kingfisher lives along a stream. Perched on a 

 branch overhanging the water, it watches for fish. When 

 it espies one it slips off its perch, plunges headlong into 

 the water, and seizes the fish in its beak. Rising into 

 the air again, the kingfisher shakes the water from its 

 oily plumage and returns to its perch. There it tosses 

 the fish up into the air, catches it, and swallows it head 

 first. Sometimes a kingfisher, while flying over the water, 

 darts down upon a minnow that attracts its attention. 

 Each pair fishes in a certain portion of the stream, and 

 kingfishers seldom trespass on their neighbors' preserves. 

 The kingfisher tunnels into a vertical bank about 6 

 feet, and at the inner end of the tunnel lays five to eight 

 white eggs. These birds often remain in the North 

 until the streams are partly covered with ice. After 

 August they are solitary ; that is, each one lives by itself. 



368 



