THE KINGFISHEK. 237 



as to occasion the least unpleasant smell. As the attachment 

 of the kingfisher to its hole is a permanent one, and not 

 limited to the breeding time, the plundering of the nest does 

 not drive it away, any more than the annual shooting of the 

 young on the branches drives the rooks from a rookery. 



As the habitation of the kingfisher always opens toward 

 the stream, and generally under some projection, and where 

 there is not a path between it and fhe water, even in low 

 states of that, as it flies low and near the surface, and can 

 glide in without being observed, and further, as it spends 

 much of its time in that habitation, its nest is rarely seen, in 

 proportion to the number that actually exists. People find it 

 fishing in lonely places, and thence they are apt to conclude 

 that it dwells in places still more lonely, whereas it most 

 likely has its hole not far from their own dwelling. Where 

 a clear stream crosses the line of a hedge, and the gap, with 

 high banks on each side, is secured by paling, is a good place 

 to search for the nests of kingfishers, if the birds are observed 

 upon any neighbouring part of the stream. 



The nest, whether made for or by the bird, slopes upwards, 

 as indeed all the nests which are made in banks by land 

 animals do, otherwise, if they should ever by accident be 

 filled with water, they would not easily get dry again ; for the 

 creatures that inhabit them, and especially birds, though they 

 can move solid substances, are by no means qualified for 

 baling out liquids : hence the offensive condition of those 

 nests in which the droppings of the young are liquid. The 

 eggs are from six to eight, and the young continue a con- 

 siderable time in the nest (they would, indeed, be helpless 

 out of it till they are capable of flying), and as they have 

 their plumage to get, they are very clamorous for food, and 

 consume a great quantity. The old ones feed them from the 

 gullet j in all probability, from the stomach, and, most 

 likely, in the early state, with food that has been partly 



