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THE COLLECTORS' |HO|lTJlIiY. 



Devoted to Ornithology, Oology and Natural History. 



The Belted Kingfisher. 



(For the Collectors Monthly.) 



One of the most interesting members of 

 the feathered family, which comes under 

 the observation of the Orinithologist 

 is the Belted Kingfisher. 



In taking a stroll near the edge of a 

 lake or secluded stream, one isoften star- 

 tled by the whistle of one of these expert 

 fishers, as it starts from a dead limb, 

 which overhangs the water, for another 

 perch, fartherout of reach along the bank. 

 As the student carelessly approaches it 

 again, the bird repeats the operation, 

 alighting on a dead tree still farther 

 away. 



This is kept up until the end of his line 

 of retreat is reached, when he makes 

 another swoop, but this time makes a 

 circle out over the water, and, returning 

 to the shore, begins his retreat in the op- 

 posite direction. 



Or, one may be seen poised in the air, 

 over the water, watching for a little min- 

 ow, when all at once it drops, and disap- 

 pears below the surface, soon emerging 

 with its victim in its bill, when it flys to 

 a suitable places, and gulps it down whole. 



Of three birds examined in one day I 

 found four fish in one, and two in each of 

 the others, in different stages of digestion. 

 The fish being from two to four inches in 

 length. 



The nesting habits of this bird are pe- 

 culiar. A sand or gravel bank is selected. 

 The cavity is begun about one foot or 

 eighteen inches below the surface. It is 



generally dug straight in for two feet or 

 more, when it sometimes curves one way 

 or the other. 



On May 11th, '89, I obtained two sets 

 of their eggs. One set consisted of five 

 perfectly fresh eggs, and the other of sev- 

 en eggs badly incubated. 



The bottom of all the nests, and the 

 runways leading to them, thatha-vecome 

 under my observation were strewn with 

 the skeletons of crabs, and the wings of 

 beetles which had been their victims. 



The rapidity with which these birds ex- 

 cavate the cavity for the nest ia simply 

 wonderful, as the following incident taken 

 from my note book will show. 



May 2nd, 1889, went to a gravel bank 

 which contained a nest, and upon ex- 

 amining it found that the complement 

 had not been completed, as there was but 

 one egg. One week from that day I vis- 

 ited the same place again. About three 

 feet from the old cavity was now another 

 hole. 



It was dug iu six feet, and the bowl of 

 the nest was as large as a half bushel, but 

 no eggs had been laid. All of this work 

 had been done iu a week. How they dig 

 and remove the dirt from the hole in so 

 short a time is surprising. 



The large strong beak, the small feet, 

 the sharp piercing eye, the baud across 

 the breast, and the ragged crest, are a 

 few of the striking characteristics of the 

 Belted Kingfisher. 



A Uluch Used Nest. 



(For the Collectors Monthly.) 



On the 13th of June I iu company with 

 three other collectors set out for a walk 



