The Birds’ Calendar 
abandoned, I did not consider that I was mak- 
ing myself liable for house-breaking, nor that it 
was an act of vandalism to draw out a quantity 
of feathers and fine roots—the material common- 
ly used in their nests. Many of the nests con- 
tained little or none of this material, which 
seemed almost superfluous, considering the sub- 
stratum of soft sand. These swallows are to be 
congratulated for the instinct that prompts them 
to select such a singular location for their abode 
—so comfortable and thoroughly protected, im- 
pervious to rain and wind. 
Hovering about the same stream could be 
seen the belted kingfisher, very much of a water- 
fowl in instinct and physiognomy, if not in anat- 
omy. Alighting upon a bush close beside me, 
his amazement at discovering the intrusion (of 
course 7 was the intruder, not 4e) made him 
motionless for an instant, and then with awk- 
ward grace and coarse cry he dashed out of sight 
down the stream. In a neighboring bank I 
found his nest, or that of some other kingfisher, 
modelled after that of the bank swallow, but 
much larger and deeper—a straight tunnel at 
least five feet long. 
Along this stream I often found a pair of 
sandpipers, with their ludicrous, teetering bodies 
228 
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