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NOTES ON THE KINGFISHER (Alcedo ispida ispida). 
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W. ROWAN, B.Sc. 
OnE of those numerous little Midland streams that take their 
origin in the Dunstable Downs flows, at a distance of about 
four miles from its source, through a farmyard. It was in 
this yard, one sunny day in May, that I was suddenly startled 
by a brilliant flash of blue passing like a streak through the 
farm and up the stream, to be lost beneath the overhanging 
willows and crowded herbage of the banks. 
This was the third time I had seen the Kingfisher in this 
farmyard. On the two previous occasions I thought a nest 
in the immediate neighbourhood was unlikely, and troubled 
no more about it. 
But now, as I saw him again, on May 28th, 1917, I changed 
my mind, and decided to watch. Several times during the — 
afternoon he passed up or down the stream, but only settled — 
twice. The first time he used the same perch that he had — 
used on the previous occasions. Here he sat for some — 
minutes, jerking his head and tail in characteristic fashion, 
till the approach of one of the men sent him precipitately up 
stream, taking, as he did several times subsequently, a short 
cut across a bend over a meadow. ‘The second time he perched 
higher-up the stream, in the early evening, when I was 
privileged to see one of the prettiest sights I have ever seen. 
It also constituted the first (and only) time I have seen a 
Kingfisher taking a bath. Four times, with very short 
intervals between, he shot down perpendicularly into the 
water, right under, and back to his perch, five feet up, where 
he fluffed out his feathers and preened himself. Every time 
he dived he sent upwards a small shower of spray, converted 
by the evening sun into a miniature rainbow, to be interrupted 
almost immediately by the rivalling hues of its gorgeous little 
creator, as he shot back to his seat. After the last dive he 
continued to preen himself for three minutes, and then, 
apparently satisfied, flew up the stream. 
But I was left with no clue as to the whereabouts of the 
nest. However, I had drawn my friend the farmer’s attention 
to the birds, and the nesting-hole was discovered some days 
later by one of the hands, who took his lunch in one of the 
sheds thenceforth daily, in the hopes of seeing what he did 
eventually see—the bird going in to feed the young. The 
roof of the nest was later dug away, revealing six youngsters, 
which flew on June 18th. 


















