206 THE BELTED KINGFISHER. 



forests, not unfrequently by a course of twenty or thirty miles towards the 

 interior of the country. Its motions when on wing consist of a series of 

 flaps, about five or six in number, followed by a direct glide, without any 

 apparent undulation. It moves in the same way when flying closely over 

 the water. 



If, in the course of such excursions, the bird passes over a small pool, it 

 suddenly checks itself in its career, poises itself in the air, like a Sparrow 

 Hawk or Kestril, and inspects the water beneath, to discover whether there 

 may be fishes in it suitable to its taste. Should it find this to be the case, it 

 continues poised for a few seconds, dashes spirally headlong into the water, 

 seizes a fish, and alights on the nearest tree or stump, where it swallows its 

 prey in a moment. 



The more usual range of the Belted Kingfisher, however, is confined to 

 the rivers and creeks that abound throughout the United States; all of which, 

 according to the seasons, are amply supplied with various fishes, on the fry 

 of which this bird feeds. It follows their course up to the very source of 

 the small rivulets; and it is not unusual to hear the hard, rapid, rattling notes 

 of our Kingfisher, even amongst the murmuring cascades of our higher 

 mountains. When the bird is found in such sequestered situations, well 

 may the angler be assured that trout is abundant. Mill-ponds are also 

 favourite resorts of the Kingfisher, the usual calmness of the water in such 

 places permitting it to discover its prey with ease. As the freshets are pro- 

 portionally less felt on the adjoining shores, the holes dug in the earth or 

 sand by this species, in which it deposits its eggs, are generally found in 

 places not far from a mill worked by water. 



I have laid open to my view several of these holes, in different situations 

 and soils, and have generally found them to be formed as follows. The male 

 and female, after having fixed upon a proper spot, are seen clinging to the 

 bank of the stream in the manner of Woodpeckers. Their long and stout 

 bills are set to work, and as soon as the hole has acquired a certain depth, 

 one of the birds enters it, and scratches out the sand, earth or clay, with its 

 feet, striking meanwhile with its bill to extend the depth. The other bird 

 all the while appears to cheer the labourer, and urge it to continue its 

 exertions; and, when the latter is fatigued, takes its place. Thus, by the 

 co-operation of both, the hole is dug to the depth of four, five, or sometimes 

 six feet, in an horizontal direction, at times not more than eighteen inches 

 below the surface of the ground, at others eight or ten feet. At the Chicasaw 

 Bluffs, on the Mississippi, I have seen some of these holes more than fifty 

 feet below the surface, but generally beyond reach of the highest freshets. 

 The hole is just large enough to admit the passage of a single bird at a time. 

 The end is rounded and finished in the form of a common oven, to allow the 



