KINGFISHERS. n 7 



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very hard set, indeed almost on the point of hatching. This hole was made in a 

 rather harder soil than the other, but still not in a clay or really stiff material. 

 The only other nest I have seen was found on the 10th of April 1893, the day 

 before this was written. The female bird I shot as it left the nest, and the male 

 as it came up calling loudly to its mate. The burrow, chamber and all, was 

 complete when found, but was quite empty, containing neither eggs nor nest. The 

 tunnel in this case was not six inches long, and the chamber was about fifteen 

 inches long by about seven broad and six high. The soil in which this nest- hole was 

 excavated was composed of clay and sand mixed, and was decidedly stiff. Judging 

 from the three nests above described, it seems probable that the bird only makes 

 very short burrows. Halcyon smyrnensis, Alcedo ispida, and many other kinds of 

 kingfishers, would have dug out a hole some four to six feet deep in the ground in 

 which the first nest was taken, and would certainly have made them of over three 

 feet in the other places. In texture and shape the eggs do not differ from the 

 majority of other kingfishers' eggs, although they are unusually small in size. 

 Amongst the bed of bones found in the first and second burrows, there were a good 

 many which must have belonged to fish fully six inches long, but the greater 

 number of them were those of very small fish. The Kacharis tell me that as a rule 

 this bird only lays two or three eggs, and that my finding four was exceptional, 

 but a Kachari's word is not particularly reliable. They are also said to breed 

 principally in May, after the first heavy floods, not, as nearly all other birds which 

 make similar excavations for their eggs do, before the floods. This kingfisher is 

 very common on nearly all the hill-streams of any size, up to about two thousand 

 feet ; above this it is much less common ; but I have seen it now and then on the 

 Laisung, a little stream at an elevation of about three thousand feet. During the 

 breeding-season it ascends higher up than in the cold weather, during which latter 

 season it is often found well in to the plains, but after April I have not heard of 

 any being met with below about five or six hundred feet. On the Dryring Kopili 

 and Zelinga rivers this bird and C. rudis meet one another, and for a few miles at 

 their junction both may be met with, but their limits seem to be very distinctly 

 defined, and a straggler of either kind is but seldom met with far beyond them. I 

 believe they are entirely fish-eaters. I have never seen them except on fair-sized 

 streams, and the stomachs of those I have examined contained nothing but fish. 

 Whilst waiting for fish, they perch very low down amongst the scrubby bushes 

 bordering the streams, or else on some overhanging bamboo; but whatever the 

 position selected, it seems nearly always to be one well in shadow, and, instead of 

 sitting on some outside twig or bough, they choose one well inside or under the 

 bush or bamboo clump. In the same manner their love of shade and darkness leads 

 them always to select the shady side of the stream, whenever practicable. As a 

 rule, they are to be found in pairs, seldom singly, for, though the male and female 

 may be some distance apart, they keep within hailing distance of one another. 

 They do not as a rule fly at all fast or far at a time, unless frightened, but on 

 such occasions are capable of flying extremely fast and powerfully, rising high in 

 the air, well out of gunshot, to avoid any danger, and then dropping again when 

 past it, continuing their flight low down close to the water. Their manner of 

 taking prey from the water is by swooping down obliquely towards it, after which 



