192 BIRDS IN THEIR RELATIONS TO MAN. 



the well-known and widely distributed Belted Kingfisher. 

 "Amidst the roar of the cataract or over the foam of a 

 torrent, he sits perched upon an overhanging bough, glancing 

 his piercing eye in every direction below for his scaly prey, 

 which with a sudden circular plunge he sweeps from its 

 native element and swallows in an instant. His voice, not 

 unlike the twirling of a watchman's rattle, is naturally loud, 

 harsh, and sudden, but is softened by the sound of the brawl- 

 ing streams among which he generally rambles. He courses 

 along the windings of the brook or river at a small height 

 above the surface, sometimes suspending himself by the 

 rapid action of his wings, like certain species of hawks, ready 

 to pounce on the prey below ; now and then settling on an 

 old dead limb to reconnoitre. Mill-ponds are particularly 

 visited by this feathered fisher ; and the sound of his pipe is 

 as well known to the miller as the rattling of his own 

 hopper." So wrote Alexander Wilson many years ago ; the 

 same picture might be drawn to-day. 



The kingfisher goes south late in autumn, winters in 

 Florida and other Southern States, and returns north early 

 in spring. Many reside at the South throughout the year. 

 The nest is made in a horizontal burrow, five or six feet long, 

 excavated by the birds in river or other banks. The food 

 consists principally of fish, but occasionally mice, frogs, or 

 grasshoppers are captured. The young are fed chiefly upon 

 fish, but are also given various sorts of aquatic insects. The 

 kingfisher is a handsome bird, whose presence adds much to 

 the enjoyment of excursions — by boat or on shore — along 

 the margins of streams and lakes, although in trout-streams 

 it is sometimes troublesome from the point of view of the 

 fisherman. 



THE CUCKOOS. 



With a large proportion of the general public the word 

 " cuckoo" brings to mind a bird which has the habit of placing 

 its eggs in the nests of other birds, the resulting young ousting 



