34 British Birds, with their Nests and Eggs 



instances are on record of young birds having been met with out of the nest in 

 the mouth of ]\Iarch, but iii our count_v, as also iu Oxfordshire and Devonshire, 

 we never met with an occupied nesting-place earlier than the beginning of May. 

 V\'e use the expression uesting-place advisedl}', for we have never found in the 

 holes tenanted by this species anything that could be correctl}- called a nest, 

 though the eggs are often laid upon the indigestible portions of food cast up by 

 the parent birds. The Kingfisher usually selects the steep bank of a river, brook, 

 or pond in which to commence its boring operations, but we have now and then 

 discovered the breeding-establishments of this species in gravel-pits at a consider- 

 able distance from water : the tunnel generally slopes gently upwards to a distance 

 of eighteen inches or two feet, and ends in a slight enlargement, in which the 

 eggs are placed ; these are from six to eight in number, of a pure glossy white, 

 and nearly round. On leaving their nursery, the young birds perch on any 

 neighboiiring boughs, and keep up an incessant cry for food for the first few days, 

 but soon learn to catch their prey for themselves. Many authors state that the 

 Kingfisher hovers for a few seconds before making his plunge at his intended 

 victim, but we have personally found this to be a somewhat exceptional habit, the 

 bird usually darting directly from its perch." (Birds of Northamptonshire, vol. i, 

 PP- 255-6). 



My son, whilst boating on the Thames beyond Maidenhead, has watched the 

 hovering habit of the Kingfisher with interest ; he sa^'s that, seen against the 

 light, the appearance of the bird when hovering was very curious, as its body was 

 almost pei'pendicular, but with the bill pointing downwards : I do not remember 

 to have seen the habit myself. 



The cry of the Kingfisher is a shrill scream, Seebohm likens it to the words 

 J)eep and pi/', but Howard Saunders renders it as ///, f//, tit. 



Speaking of this species as a cage-bird, Lord Lilford saj'S : — "■ We have 

 frequently reared young Kingfishers from the nest, and found that in a large cage 

 with a plentiful supply of small live fishes they may be kept in good health for 

 a considerable time, but although thej^ may, as we say in falconry, be ' trained 

 off' to feed upon worms and raw meat by placing this food in their water-pan, 

 they never thrive long upon any other than a fish diet. In common with most 

 piscivorous birds, the digestion of the Kingfisher is a very rapid process, and its 

 appetite consequentl}^ voracious ; this of course renders it very difficult to keep 

 their place of confinement in good order, and though they become very tame and 

 are interesting to watch, we consider that here, at least, where we have abundant 

 opportunities of observing this bird in a state of nature, the keeping of Kingfishers 

 costs more trouble than it is worth, and from their savage character amongst 



