38 LIFE HISTORIES OF NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS. 



7 feet above the roadbed and within 18 inches of the top. That of the first one 

 ran in about 7 feet and turned to the right as it entered the nesting chamber. 

 The seven fresh eggs were placed in a nest of coarse grass, which, although 

 rather scanty, covered the floor of the cavity on all sides. The burrow of the 

 second one extender! in about 4£ feet, and, like the other previously mentioned, 

 turned toward the right as the expanded nesting cavity was reached. The nest, 

 which was quite elaborate, was composed wholly of fish scales and bones, arranged 

 in a compact, saucer-shaped mass. The writer made a tunnel from the top of 

 the bank so as to intercept the burrow as it entered the nesting cavity. Viewed 

 through this hole, the nest was a beautiful affair. The scales, which looked as if 

 made of frosted silver, formed a delicate setting for the six pure-white eggs 

 lying in the center, and by the projected light made a most effective picture. 

 On two occasions, near Sing Sing, New York, the writer found the Kingfisher 

 and Rough-winged Swallow using burrows having a common entrance. It is 

 probable in each case that the swallow had commenced its diverging burrow 

 after the larger bird completed its work." 



The number of eggs varies usually from five to eight, and sets of six or 

 seven are most often found. Instances, however, have been recorded where as 

 many as fourteen eggs have been found at one time, and Mr. Charles A. Strawn, 

 of Cerro Gordo, Arkansas, informed Mr. Robert Ridgway, under date of March 

 22, 1890, that he had taken eleven young Kingfishers out of a burrow on Dog 

 River, Douglas County, Georgia. How the female managed to cover this number 

 of eggs and hatch them all is certainly surprising. If the first set of eg'gs is 

 taken, the birds abandon the burrow and excavate a second one near by, and 

 frequently within a few feet of the first one, and lay a second set, consisting 

 rarely of more than six eggs. Only a single brood is raised in a season. In a 

 newly excavated nest the eggs are usually laid on the bare ground, while in such 

 as have been occupied in previous seasons the eggs are frequently found deposited 

 on quite a thick layer of fish bones, scales, crawfish shells, and wing covers of 

 beetles remaining from former years, but which can not be considered as part of 

 the nest. The male does not assist in incubation, but supplies its mate with food 

 while so engaged, and she rarely leaves the nest after the first egg has been laid; 

 at any rate I have invariably found the bird at home if there were any eggs in 

 the nest. Incubation lasts about sixteen days. The young when first hatched 

 are blind, perfectly naked, helpless, and, in a word, very unprepossessing. They 

 scarcely look like birds while crawling about in the nest, where they remain 

 several weeks, their growth being very slow. The excrement of the young is 

 promptly removed and the burrow is kept rather clean. They utter a low, 

 puffing sound when disturbed, and frequently vary considerably in size, as if 

 incubation, in some instances at least, began with the first egg laid. The }*oung, 

 even after they have left the nest for some time, require the attendance of their 

 parents before they are able to secure subsistence for themselves. 



The eggs of the Kingfisher are pure white in color; the shell is strong, fine 

 grained, smooth, and rather glossy, especially so in fresh eggs ; in strongly ineu- 



