BELTED KINGFISHER. 59 



and his glistening white throat. If he lights 011 

 a dead stub by the water, and you can see the 

 compact, oily plumage that is adapted for cold 

 plunges, you will think him handsome in spite of 

 his topheaviness. He sits like the catbird, and 

 watches the fish come toward the surface. But 

 before they know what has happened they are 

 wriggling in his bill. After catching a fish he 

 quickly carries it back to his perch, to be devoured 

 at his leisure. 



The kingfisher shows us a new style of nest, 

 though it -might seem that there had been variety 

 enough before. There was the " adobe house " 

 of the robin, the coarse bundle of sticks gathered 

 by the crow, the exquisite lichen-covered cup of 

 the humming-bird, the loose, clumsy-looking nests 

 of the catbird and cuckoo, the frame house rented 

 by the bluebird, the tiny wall pocket glued to the 

 chimney by the swift, the grass houses of the bob- 

 olink and meadow-lark, the mud bowl of the barn 

 swallow, the airy gray pocket of the oriole, and 

 the snug wooden retreats of the chickadee and 

 yellow hammer. But here is something stranger 

 than any of them a burrow in the earth, that 

 might well be the hole of some shy animal rather 

 than the home of a bird. It is usually dug in 

 the banks of rivers or streams. 



As the kingfisher spends most of his time on 

 the wing, his feet are small and weak, different 

 enough from the powerful feet and claws of the 



