90 COMMON KIXGFISHETt. 



the poetical Alcyon or Halcyon of the ancients, 

 which was believed to build % a floating nest; an 

 idea which perhaps originated from a view of the 

 nests of some of the Colymbi or Grebes, which 

 build their nests among aquatic plants, and which 

 are sometimes so loosely attached as to be occa- 

 sionally carried to some little distance on the sur- 

 face of the water. The nest of the Kingfisher is 

 variously described by different authors; some 

 maintaining that the bird deposits its eggs on the 

 bare surface of the mould at the end of the hole 

 in which it resides: this hole is constantly observed 

 to be in an ascending direction, and is often two 

 or three feet in length, terminating in a cavity, 

 which is generally strewed or lined with a layer of 

 small fish bones, intermixed with scales. Aristotle 

 affirms that the nest is in the form of a long-necked 

 gourd, and composed offish-bones. <f The King- 

 fisher, says the Count de Buffon, nestles in the 

 banks of rivers and brooks, in holes made by wa- 

 ter-rats, or by crabs, which it deepens and fashions, 

 and contracts at the aperture : small fish bones and 

 scales are found in it, among sand, but without 

 any arrangement, and here its eggs are deposited: 

 though we cannot find those little pellets with which 

 Belon says it plasters its nest, or trace the form im- 

 puted to it by Aristotle, who compares this nest 

 to a gourd, and its substance and texture to those 

 sea-balls or lumps of interwoven filaments which 

 cut with difficulty, but when dried become friable.'* 

 Dr. Latham says the Kingfisher lays its eggs, to 

 the number of seven or more, in a hole in the bank 



