204 Among the Birds in Northern Shires. 



fisher (of various species) is an object of much vene- 

 ration. 



Surely after these few extracts from some of the 

 many legends in which the Kingfisher is involved 

 the gem-like bird acquires a greater interest as we 

 watch it passing like a gleam of blue light along the 

 river. Even in our own day there is not a little 

 fiction and absurdity gathered round the nesting 

 habits of the Kingfisher. We are told that the bird 

 is careful to make a nest of fish-bones for its eggs; 

 this is a widely prevailing idea among persons who 

 should know better, such as keepers, fishermen, and 

 bird-nesting boys, for their experience is generally 

 personal. Perhaps appearances have fostered, if 

 they have not absolutely originated this belief. The 

 Kingfisher pairs for life, and returns in most cases 

 to the same place to nest season after season. This 

 nest is usually in a hole, in many cases in a steep 

 bank overhanging the river, and generally excavated 

 by the birds themselves. Very often, however, a rat's 

 hole will be selected and various trifling alterations 

 made to suit the new tenant. The hole almost invari- 

 ably slopes upwards from the entrance, and is from 

 three to four feet in length, enlarged at the end into 

 a kind of chamber. The birds, it should be remarked, 

 resort to this hole to roost, and frequent it generally 

 long before the eggs are laid, so that a collection of 

 bones, decaying fish, and droppings accumulates in 



