CHAPTER X 



The Belted Kingfisher: Ceryle Alcyon 



IN EMBANKMENTS 



As the cashier pushed the 

 amount of my check under the 

 wicket, Mr. William Hale, the 

 bookkeeper, turned from his desk 

 and, touching the tips of his 

 thumbs and first fingers in an 

 oval, asked: 



"What does a hole shaped so, 

 and running six feet back into a 

 solid embankment, mean?" 



"Is the bottom of it like this?" 

 I questioned, picking up a pencil 

 and drawing a line. 



"Yes, it is," he answered. 



"Then," I said, "it means 

 Kingfishers. The middle curve is 

 formed by their breasts and the 

 side tracks by their funny little 

 crippled feet. Where did you 

 find a hole like that?" 



"Found it on my farm while 

 taking Helen and Mary for a 

 walk yesterday. It is in the back 



wall of the old pit from which the Grand Rapids people took the 

 gravel for the railway." 



123 



WAITING FOR LUNCH 



