438 THE KINGFISHER. 



emerging and putting off with an air of real pleasure, is very 

 animating to the beholder, to say the least. One almost 

 feels like clapping his hands at the success of the feat. I 

 watch him with interest even as he alights upon a stake or a 

 limb over the water, intent upon his prey beneath, occasion- 

 ally jerking his tail, or repeating his peculiar rattle, often 

 compared to the whistle of a night-watch, but sounding 

 really musical in this pleasing solitude. 



Reaching this locality as early as the 18th of March — for 

 they barely go far enough south in winter to find the streams 

 clear of ice — they are already prospecting for a nest by the 

 first week in April. The nest is near the inner extremity of 

 a hole in the bank of a stream or pond, some 4 or 5 feet 

 from the entrance; often near the surface, but if the bank 

 be high, it may be a number of feet below. The nest con- 

 sists of a few sticks or a little straw, with some feathers; 

 and contains some half-dozen pure white eggs, about 1.32 X 

 1.05. Incubation, which is performed by both parents, lasts 

 about two weeks, and the young receive the best of atten- 

 tion. When they are disturbed, it is said " the mother 

 sometimes drops on the water as if severely wounded, and 

 flutters and flounders as if unable to rise from the stream, 

 in order to induce the intruder to wade or swim after her, 

 whilst her mate, perched on the nearest bough, or even on 

 the edge of the bank, jerks his tail, erects his crest, rattles 

 his notes with angry vehemence, and then springing off, 

 passes and repasses before the enemy with a continued cry 

 of despair." ^^t-*/^^ 



About a foot long, the Kingfisher {Ceryle alcyon), is slaty- 

 blue above, including the long crest and band across the 

 breast, the shafts of the feathers black, spot in front of the 

 eye, collar around the neck, and under parts generally, pure 

 satiny white, quills and tail-feathers mostly black, spotted 



