THE OOLOGIST. 



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195 



ers I found two fresh eggs. The owl 

 did not come back to inquire "who, 

 who" was there, but I felt like "who, 

 whoing" over my find. 



The first gurglings of Song Sparrows 

 are heard sometimes early as February 

 13th. but usually about February 20th. 

 The song, or rather the remnants of 

 their song, is but a prelude to what it 

 will be in a week. They sit on the 

 highest cattails or fence post and evi- 

 dently try to sing the full song, but it 

 seems to require practice. The first 

 attempts are made down in the seclus- 

 ion of weeds and cattails, but as the 

 song improves they mount higher and 

 higher until— there he is perched upon 

 the highest fence post in full blossom of 

 song. 



C. F. Stone, 

 Branchport, N. Y. 



The Belted Kingffisher. 



One of our most conspicuous and in- 

 teresting birds is the Belted Kingfisher 

 {Ceryle alcyon). He is found through- 

 out North America wherever there is a 

 lake or river of any size and oftentimes 

 he nests far inland where the water 

 courses, if any occur, are extremely 

 small rivulets. His slaty-blue plumage 

 makes him conspicuous wherever 

 found, and not a whit less does his 

 harsh rattling call force itself on one's 

 ears. Besides, he is a fearless fellow, 

 never trying to conceal himself, and for 

 what reason indeed should he? His 

 flesh is so rank on account of his diet 

 of fish that he is not sought by the 

 sportsman, and the small boy with the 

 large gun finds him no easy target on 

 account of his rapid flight. Of course 

 he often perches for minutes at a time, 

 but his eye is always open and no one 

 can approach unobserved to do him 

 harm. His nest, too, is safe from the 

 mischievous small boy, for it is so far 

 back in the high bank that the wonld- 



be destroyer soon tires of his digging 

 and goes home disgusted. 



The Kingfisher is very aptly named. 

 He never eats carrion, and so every 

 meal he gets has to be taken from the 

 water. His work seems to be enjoyable 

 for he is always ready for it, and by his 

 extensive practice he becomes so ex- 

 pedient as to deserve his title of King. 

 Along the Gi'eat Lakes a few specimens 

 may be seen all winter, and even at 

 that season when the finny tribes are 

 deep down in the warmer water below 

 the surface these skillful fishers make 

 a living. However only a few remain, 

 and until the middle of March the 

 creeks of the north are deserted. Then 

 some fine morning we hear his loud 

 and rapidly uttered call, and we see 

 him fly past up stream as he was wont 

 to do last summer. Except for a slight 

 jerk every dozen strokes his flight is as 

 straight and swift as that of some 

 ducks. Sometimes he keeps within a 

 foot or two of the water, but often 

 when flying up or down a small creek 

 he keeps high up in the air out of dan- 

 ger. When skimming along the surface 

 of a pond he keeps close to the water, 

 but up he goes when a fish is seen. He 

 hovers at a height of 20 or 30 feet, beat- 

 ing his wings regularly like a falcon, 

 then swoops and plunges beneath the 

 surface. Using his wings he dives well, 

 and presently comes up with the strug- 

 gling fish fast in his claws or beak. He 

 does not always fish, however, in this 

 way, for we often see him perched on a 

 dead limb, fence-post or telegraph wire 

 from which he can get a good view of 

 the body of water near by. In this po- 

 sition he is a tiue picture of patience, 

 for often nothing comes into view for a 

 long, long time. Then all at once he 

 drops off his perch and flies out quietly 

 over the water. Aft'er hovering in the 

 air an instant he makes his dreadful 

 plunge. If he has scared his game he 

 flies oft' to a distance to see it is quiet; 

 but, if he has failed, back he goes to his 



