﻿The Belted Kingfisher 



One of the singular habits of this peculiar bird is connected with its 

 breeding. It does not build a nest in a tree or on the ground, but it ex- 

 cavates a hole in the side of a bank, usually near water, but not always, as 

 railroad cuts are sometimes selected. The location of the burrow is prob- 

 ably determined largely by the character of the soil, the 

 favorite kind being clay, compact sand , or mixed gravel and 

 loam. Both the male and female bird join in the labor 

 of excavation, which is done with their large and power- 

 ful bills, the feet being used to push out the loosened soil. 



The passage is round and about four inches in diam- 

 eter and extends inward, straight or with bends to a FEET OF KINGFISHER 

 varying depth from four to twenty feet, and terminates in a round domed 

 living-room. Here the clutch of five to eight pure white eggs are laid and the 

 young are hatched. As the nestlings are protected from cold, heat and 

 storms, there is little or no nesting material used, although in old excavations 

 a considerable amount of fishbones and scales may be found. If the birds 

 are not disturbed, a burrow will be used for a number of successive seasons. 



The young, when hatched, are naked, very helpless and their eyes are not 

 opened. They grow very slowly. Kingfishers belong to the class of birds 

 known as Altrices, or those whose young are helpless at birth and require 

 feeding and care in the nest. They are in striking contrast to the Pracoces, 

 whose young are able to run about and feed themselves as soon as they are 

 hatched. One of the most interesting subjects in the study of birds is the 

 difference in habits between the altri- 

 cial and precocial birds ; it will be a 

 never-ending source of interest to the 

 teacher and the pupils. Contrast, for 

 instance, the helpless young of the 

 Kingfisher with the downy, self-reliant 

 young of the Spotted Sandpiper, that 

 well-known bird that is seen in sum- 

 mer teetering on the margin of almost 

 every river or pond in this country.* 



Another interesting subject is the 

 investigation of the food of birds and 

 their means of procuring it; in other words, how the bills and feet are 

 adapted to the needs of the bird when procuring food. 



Kingfishers subsist principally on small fish not over three inches in 

 length which are of little or no value. They also eat Crustacea, grasshop- 

 pers, beetles, crickets, frogs, lizards, etc. Major Bendire says, in ' Life 

 Histories of North American Birds' : "In southern Arizona, where streams 

 are few, I have found Kingfishers breeding in localities where fish must 



* Read ' The Kingfishers' Home-Life,' by William L. Baily, Bird-Lore, Vol. II, p. 76, 1900. 



FOOT OF OSPREY 



