456 THE KINGFISHER 



for the fact that occasionally feathers are found in the nest. The 

 association of these two birds, and the fact that both are skilled at 

 tunnelling, is remarkable, for neither would seem in the least degree 

 fitted for such labours, which shows us how careful we ought to be in 

 interpreting structure and habits. But the kingfisher works leisurely, 

 taking two or three weeks about its task. Both sexes take part in this 

 work, and both, according to Seebohm, incubate. The eggs are white, 

 being laid in holes, but before being blown they have a beautifully 

 translucent appearance, tinged with pink, due to the colour of the 

 blood-vessels surrounding the yolk showing through the shell. The 

 young are fed at intervals of about a quarter of an hour, and it has 

 been stated, among others by the late Mr. Bosworth Smith, that they 

 are nourished by regurgitated food. This was but an inference drawn 

 from the fact that he had never seen the bird return to the nest with 

 fish in the beak. It may be, however, that the food is " pouched," 

 that is to say, is held within the mouth. At any rate, whole fishes are 

 commonly found within the tunnel, that for some reason have been 

 left there, instead of taken to the young ; and Seebohm J quotes an 

 instance of a loach, 3 in. long, being found within the burrow. The 

 condition of the burrow, and of the nest, after the appearance of the 

 young, is extremely dirty ; the fluid excrement of the young, and the 

 remains of fish dropped in the burrow, combining to form a thick, 

 foetid layer of gluey consistency and green colour, most offensive to 

 the nostrils of all but the occupants. The nest commonly rests on a 

 similar unsavoury bed. Not seldom, it is not surprising to find, the 

 whole passage is swarming with maggots, while the constant draining 

 away of the more fluid portions of this mess runs down from the 

 mouth of the burrow, and so betrays its whereabouts. 



The young, which remain naked until the appearance of the 

 contour feathers, leave the nest as soon as they are fledged, and, 

 perched in a row on some convenient bough, await the parents 

 returning with food. For some time indeed, after they have left 



1 Bird Life and Bird Lore, p. 397. 



