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many more fly into people’s houses at night, when a window is left open, of

course near the river.


But to return to the Kingfisher as a cage pet. I have reared them by

hand, and also successfully “ nieated off” adult caught birds. To rear them

by hand, tlie}^ should be taken before fully fledged, or otherwise they will

have to be crammed until they can feed themselves. When a Kingfisher's

hole is found, try to ascertain first what the contents of the nest are likely

to be by watching the old birds ; for when the young ones are newly hatched,

and for some time afterwards, the parent birds swallow the fish first and

when partly digested disgorge it into the beaks of the young. So, if the

old birds are fishing and do not take the fish in their beaks into the hole,

the young are scarcely fit to take ; but when the parent bird is taking very

small fish into the nest, then is the time to see about them.


It is best not to disturb the entrance-hole if possible, as the burrow is

generally some distance below the level of the field, and always rises

inside towards the surface. The best plan is to take off a few turfs over

where you think the nest likely to be, and it will generally be found very

near to the surface. They lay from four to six eggs, rather stunted in shape

and of a transparent pinky-white colour. The young should be fed on very

small fish at first; then cut up some lean beef about the size of horse beans,

soak this in cold water till the blood is out of it and it has turned white ;

then give a meal of this alternately with a meal of fish. They sometimes

seem to prefer meat prepared like this, to fish — after they can feed

themselves. The fish could then be dispensed with, if there be great

difficulty in getting them ; but here, the offer of a penny a dozen for small

fish, to the school-boys, soon brought enough fish to feed all the Kingfishers

in the parish, although they are such gluttons. I once tried an experiment,

and found that one of my Kingfishers would eat more than double its own weight

of fish per day. This I reported in the Feathered World , so need not repeat it

here.


Kingfishers become very tame, flying to your hand and taking a fish

and on to the roost again, without a stop. But there is one tiling against

keeping these birds in cages, which I cannot overcome, in spite of all kinds

of experiments — so I have given up keeping them. That is, it is impossible

to keep their plumage perfect. Their little claws are quite incapable of

clinging to the wires of the cage, and they never seem to realise that they

cannot go straight ahead, if they think "fit. So, if they want to fly to the

person they know, or see a tempting perch a few yards from their cage, (no

matter whether it is a large cage or outdoor aviary), they fix their eyes

on it, and away they go, straight ahead until stopped by the wires, where

they remain fluttering like a wasp on a window pane; then they drop back

on their tails, breaking off their tail feathers : their legs being so short

and apparently weak, that they do not protect the tail in the least. The

same adtion against the wires also frays the wings. I find coarse canvas

over the front of the cage better than wires ; but then, who wants to keep

a bird one can never see and admire ? I tried hay and straw on the bottom

of the cage, but this got twisted round their legs. Then I tried a thick

layer of sawdust, and found this much better. It also answered another

purpose, taking the place of fish-bones for pellets. For the sawdust

naturally got fluttered into the meat dish, and particles being swallowed

with the meat were thrown up again with the fibrous parts of the meat as

pellets. Kingfishers seldom, if ever, swallow their prey alive ; but kill it

by knocking it first on one side of them and then on the other, in the same

way as a thrush does with a snail. Even when fed on beef, they knock it

about in the same way, as if it were a lively minnow they were killing. I

have never seen a newly-hatched Kingfisher, but should think their bills

would be short and wide at the gape. Even when full}' fledged, their bills

are short, compared with the adult birds. They do not seem to moult at all

the first year, at least, none of mine did ; and I have had many Kingfishers

brought in for stuffing, in February and March, which still retained their

nest feathers. They become much brighter red on the breast, bill much

longer, lower mandible red, and feet and legs bright vermilion when adult.



