THE KINGFISHER. 79 



Generally, the nest is placed in the deserted burrow of a water* 

 vole, but in this instance it had been made in the empty tunnel 

 of a water-shrew, so that the hole was of comparatively small di- 

 mensions, and would not admit my hand and arm without some 

 artificial enlargement. In all cases, the bird takes care to in- 

 crease the size of the burrow at the spot where the nest is made, 

 and to choose a burrow that slopes upward, so that however high 

 the water may rise, the nest will be perfectly dry. 



That the eggs are laid upon dry fish-bones is a fact that has 

 long been known, but for an accurate account of the nest we are 

 indebted to Mr. Gould, the eminent ornithologist. 



Until he succeeded in removing the nest entire, no one had 

 been able to perform such a feat, and so well known to all bird- 

 nesters is the difficulty of the task, that a legend was, and per- 

 haps- is still, current in various parts of England, that the author- 

 ities of the British Museum had offered a reward of 100/. to any 

 one who would deposit in their collection a perfect nest of the 

 Kingfisher. This feat has been admirably accomplished by Mr. 

 Gould. 



Having discovered the retreat of a Kingfisher, and ascertained 

 by digging down upon the nest that the bird was laying, he re- 

 placed the earth, and waited for three weeks before attempting 

 any farther operations. The chief difficulty was, of course, to 

 prevent the earth from falling into the nest, and becoming mixed 

 with the delicate bones of which, it was composed. In order to 

 obviate such a mishap, Mr. Gould introduced a quantity of cot- 

 ton wool into the burrow, pushing it to the extremity with a 

 fishing-rod. He then dug down upon the nest, and captured the 

 female, who was sitting upon eight eggs. With very great care 

 he removed the fragile nest, and transferred it to the British Mu- 

 seum, where it may be seen by any one who will look for it in 

 the room devoted to such objects. 



The nest is composed wholly of fish-bones, minnows furnishing 

 the greater portion. These bones are ejected by the bird when 

 the flesh is digested, just as an owl ejects the pellets on which her 

 eggs are laid. The walls of the nest are about half an inch in 

 thickness, and its form is very fiat. The circular shape and slight 

 hollow show that the bird really forms the mass of bones into a 

 nest, and does not merely lay her eggs at random upon the eject- 

 or. The whole of these bones were deposited and arranged in 

 the short space of three weeks. 



