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for its resting-place, but in the autumn when the migration is in progress, at break of day- 

 it is not unusual to see two or even three birds in company on a rail or on the side of a 

 punt ; in the day time, however, it loves solitude, and seldom more than one can be seen at 

 once, and then it affects more shady and secluded haunts. In general it is a lonely bird, 

 jealous of intrusion, especially from individuals of its own species. Each pair appear to 

 choose and maintain a particular hunting ground, and should one Kingfisher enter upon the 

 domain of another, it is speedily and effectually ousted by the rightful owner with cries of 

 rage. So fierce is the animosity displayed by these birds, that when excited in combat they 

 fly heedless of obstacles, and thus occasionally meet their death in their headlong career ; 

 not long ago, indeed, an instance was recorded in the "Field,'' by Mr. E. Ward, of two 

 Kingfishers which flew with such violence against a window, that both pursuer and pursued 

 met their death on the spot. Mr. Alfred Denison possesses these identical specimens, which 

 were stuffed to commemorate the occurrence. 



In the above details of the habits of our Kingfisher, the results of our observations 

 differ considerably from those of Dr. Kiitter as hereinafter given, and we can only reconcile 

 the discrepancy by supposing that the Kingfisher in Germany is a more pacific bird than 

 its English congener. 



The late Mr. Briggs of Cookham, a most accurate observer of the habits of our British 

 Birds, and one whose loss cannot sufficiently be deplored, has told us that he has often 

 watched the Kingfisher dive several times from its post without apparently capturing any 

 prey, and that its object in so doing he believed to be, by disturbing the water, to attract the 

 small fish and insects. To this hypothesis we cannot adhere, and our opinion is that the 

 bird merely plunges in order to wash itself, and Mr. Frederick Bond, the well-known Mentor 

 of British Ornithologists, concurs in this opinion ; we were also on one occasion witnesses 

 to a freak on the part of a Kingfisher which was wildly dashing backwards and forwards in 

 a small brook, apparently taking a bath and screaming vociferously all the while. 



The young, even when in the nest, are noisy, and their presence can be detected in the 

 breeding-hole by the cries they emit. When able to fly they sit in secluded spots in the 

 neighbourhood of the nest, and are very clamorous for food. The old birds evince great 

 solicitude for their offspring, and when an intruder is seen in the neighbourhood of their 

 young may be observed flying restlessly from point to point with the food in the bill 

 intended for the little Kingfishers, who, unsuspecting danger, answer the anxious cry 

 of the parent bird from the depths of the shady retreat where they are awaiting its return. 

 It is to be recorded that when only just able to fly 'the note of the young exactly resemble 

 the disyllabic cry of the adult bird, but is of course not so powerful. 



The Kingfisher, though essentially frequenting water, by no means confines its choice 

 of a breeding locality to the vicinity of that element, and the nest is not unfrequently found 

 at some distance from the nearest stream. We know ourselves of an instance where a pair 

 of birds selected a hole in a garden-bank in Dr. Goolden's grounds at Maidenhead, at least 

 a mile away from any water, at a very little height from the ground, and within easy reach 

 of the passers by. In our opinion, the nature of the soil has more to do with the choice of 

 the nesting-hole, its pliability for tunneling being the most essential requirement. 



We may add that the Kingfisher varies its food according to the localities it frequents, 

 and although on the rivers its usual food consists of fish and water insects, on visiting the 

 sea-shore it feeds on shrimps, &c, while our friend Mr. Gatcombe tells us that one was 

 brought to him near Plymouth which had the stomach literally crammed with small crabs. 



The following very interesting account of the habits of the Kingfisher is from the pen 

 of Dr. Kiitter (Journ. f. Orn. 186(5, p. 38). He says: — 



" I have- often observed that this bird not only seizes insects when in want of its chief 

 article of food or of the first food for its young, but also at other times, and I have proved 

 this by examining the contents of the stomach out of the breeding season. It was, therefore, 

 doubly interesting to me to see Ileuglin's notes in his work, in which he states that certain 



