KINGFISHER 47 



and lilies of the shore. But his voice is enough 

 to startle the nerves of the hardiest; his harsh 

 rattling cry can be heard for half a mile up or 

 down stream. Although only thirteen inches long 

 he appears larger, because of his short tail and 

 stout, top-heavy body. 



A stout little fellow he has need to be, for his 

 nest is at the end of a passage dug two or three 

 feet back into a sand bank. Here is a chamber 

 large enough for the mother bird — queenfisher, 

 shall we say? : — to turn around in, and a curious 

 bed of — fishbones ! A most uncomfortable pallet 

 on the floor we should find it, and a malodorous 

 bedroom ; but we may be sure it exactly meets the 

 liking of the young Kingfishers. 



In order that the pair may not find all this 

 excavation too onerous a task, the Kingfisher's 

 two outer toes on each foot are joined together 

 for most of their length, to form a sort of shovel. 

 Like the Woodpeckers, these birds like to return 

 to the same place year after year, but they 

 always drill a new nest-cavity. 



This fisherman does not seize his catch in 

 claws or beak like a bird of prey, but impales it 

 on his sharp beak by darting upon it with closed 

 wings through the water, like the fishing-spear of 

 an Indian. Having caught his dinner he carries 

 it to his perch ashore, turns the head toward 

 him, and swallows it whole. Fish of a surprising 



