Kingfishers 141 



Not long after that a railroad company bought the 

 franchise along the water front, started a big digging ma- 

 chine, set scrapers to work, slashed the scenery right and 

 left and dropped it into the river. It spoiled the whole 

 place for me, but do you think the railway syndicate drove 

 out the kingfisher? Not much. No sooner had the big 

 digger moved on than he plugged another hole in the new 

 bank. The old roots and the dead tree where he used 

 to sit were gone, but he put on civilization and set himself 

 on a wire where thousands of volts of invisible power 

 were passing beneath his clutched feet. He perched on 

 the trolley pole, and rattled his call as if it were put there 

 for his convenience. Indeed it seemed so, for it was 

 squarely over the water's edge where he could watch the 

 swimming minnows beneath. 



I have often watched the kingfisher along the river. 

 At times he would occupy an old willow on the bank, 

 and he would sit there for half an hour at a time, occasion- 

 ally turning his head and watching the water carefully. 

 I seldom saw him catch anything from that place ; I think 

 he used it more as a lounging tree. He would often come 

 flying down the river about noontime, with his head high 

 in the air, and, like the boat coming in at the wharf, he 

 always sounded his rattle before landing. 



This old " king " had several favorite perches for a 

 mile along the river. He was watchful and shy, and I think 

 rather quarrelsome. Never but once did I see another 

 kingfisher about, and that was one day when I heard a 

 loud rattling, and looking down the river I saw two king- 

 fishers light in the dead alder, both very much excited. 

 They kept up a clattering fuss for a few moments, as one 



