310 Shooting Kingfishers. 



able localities were open to them along the course of 

 the stream. 



One summer I found a family of four young king- 

 fishers perched in a row on a dead branch crossing 

 a' brook which ran for some distance beside a double- 

 mound hedge. There was a hatch just there too, 

 forcing the water into two ponds, one each side of the 

 mound. The brook had worn itself a deep channel, 

 and so required a hatch to bring it up to a level 

 convenient for cattle. I had known for some, time 

 that there was a nest in that mound from the con- 

 tinued presence of the two old birds ; but could not 

 find it. But wken the young could fly a little they 

 appeared on this branch projecting almost over the 

 falling water, and there they took up their station 

 day after day. Every now and then the parents came 

 with small fish, which they caught farther down the 

 brook, for just in that place there were only a few 

 perch and perhaps a tench or two. The colors are 

 much less brilliant on the young birds, and they do 

 not obtain the deep rich hues of their parents until 

 the following spring. I have shot many young birds 

 in the winter ; they are by that time much improved 

 in color, but may be distinguished without difficulty 

 from the full-grown bird. 



Though so swift, the kingfisher is comparatively 

 easy to shoot, because he flies as straight as an 

 arrow ; and if you can get clear of bushes or willow- 

 pollards he may be dropped without trouble. When 

 disturbed the kingfisher almost invariably flies off in 

 one favorite direction ; and this habit has often proved 

 fatal to him, because the sportsman knows exactly 

 which way to look, and carries his gun prepared. . 



