THE KINGFISHER. 245 



believed that the bird built a floating nest, and wherever 

 the old bird and her charge were drifted by the winds, as 

 they floated over the briny deep, the sea remained calm 

 and lucid. The Kingfisher, therefore, to the ancient 

 mariner, was a bird held sacred in the extreme. Even in 

 our own day one would think these absurd superstitions 

 were not altogether eradicated. For instance, the nest 

 is said to be made of the fish bones ejected by the bird. 

 If the Kingfisher builds a nest of fish bones, which it 

 certainly does not, we may also say with equal truth 

 that the Windhover Hawk builds a nest of cast-up 

 pellets on which to deposit her eggs. Now the real 

 facts of the case are these : Kingfishers, as the young 

 naturalist is probably aware, nest in holes of the banks 

 of the stream they frequent, and not only do they nest 

 in these places, but they often repair to them at other 

 times and roost in them at night ; and therefore, as the 

 birds so frequent them, it must follow that vast quantities 

 of rejected fish bones accumulate, and on these the eggs 

 are of necessity laid. Therefore I am satisfied in my 

 own mind that Nature has not taught or intended the 

 Kingfisher to build a nest, but that its case, is analogous 

 to that of the Windhover. The one repairs to an old 

 nest or hole or crevice for its purpose : the other seeks 

 a hole in like manner, and in both cases the eggs are 

 found on the refuse of the bird's food. It will therefore 

 be seen that naturalists err when they tell us that the 

 Kingfisher builds a nest of fish bones, and we may rest 

 assured that no Kingfisher has yet purposely constructed 

 a nest out of the bones it ejects. 



The eggs of the Kingfisher are very beautiful objects 

 before they are blown, being of a deep pinkish hue ; but 

 after the contents are removed the pink bloom vanishes, 

 and the eggs assume a pure and spotless white, in some 



