344 WILD LIFE IN A SOUTHERN COUNTY. 



there long before a kingfisher flew past, keeping just 

 clear of the hedge, but low down and close under the 

 boughs of the trees, and going in a direction which 

 would not lead to a brook or pond. This seemed 

 curious ; but presently he came back again, uttering 

 the long whistle which is his peculiar note. About 

 an hour, perhaps less, elapsed when he returned 

 again, this time carrying something in his beak that 

 gleamed white and silvery in the sun a fish. The 

 next day it was the same, and the next. The king- 

 fisher, or rather two of them, went continually to 

 and fro, and it was astonishing what a number of 

 fish they took. Never more than an hour, ofter 

 less, elapsed without one or other going by. The 

 fish varied much in size, sometimes being very small. 



They had a nest, of course, somewhere ; but, being 

 under the idea that they always built near brooks or 

 in the high banks often seen at the back of ponds, 

 it was difficult for me to imagine where the nest could 

 be. To all appearance they flew straight through a 

 small opening in another hedge, at the corner of the 

 two, in fact, about two hundred yards distant. Pres- 

 ently it occurred to me that this might be an illusion ; 

 that the birds did not really pass through the hedge, 

 but had a nest somewhere in that corner. 



Just in the very angle was an old disused sawpit, 

 formed by enlarging the ditch, and made some years 

 before for the temporary convenience of sawing up 

 a few heavy " sticks " of timber that were thrown 

 thereabouts. The sawpit, to prevent accidents to 



