Kingfishers 143 



of crawfish that are common along the streams. He pulls 

 the fish apart and swallows shell and all; then the indi- 

 gestible parts are vomited up later, and, strange to say, 

 these cast-off bones, scales, and shells are used for the 

 lining of the nest. I do not know just why a kingfisher 

 likes to carpet his house with such a rough floor, unless 

 he wants to adorn his home with the trophies of his many 

 hunts. He may be too lazy to carry in anything else. 



Some people advocate shooting the kingfisher at every 

 opportunity, and, in some places, men have made laws to 

 exterminate him, claiming that he destroys too many young 

 trout. But the kingfisher eats very few trout compar- 

 atively. He lives largely on the kinds of fish that are of 

 little or no value to man. What if he does catch an occa- 

 sional trout to eat? Is man the proper defender of the 

 trout? Man who never destroys! The kingfisher was 

 here long before man came ; he must have some rights, at 

 least the right to live a secluded life along the waterways 

 where there are no trout. 



The kingfisher is not a social bird like the chippy and 

 chickadee, and I have never found but one pair about a cer- 

 tain place. He is a solitary fisher and an outcast in bird 

 society. He seems to think that a companion would talk 

 and scare the fish, or else he is too much of a hermit to 

 enjoy the friendship of others. But it would be a poor 

 world if all the birds were alike. I wouldn't want a field 

 without a meadow lark, even if it did raise a good crop 

 of hay. It would be a desolate patch of winter woods 

 with no chickadee. It would be a barren orchard without 

 a robin or chippy, even if it did bear apples. I should 

 lose much of my interest and pleasure in the river if 



