SACRED KINGFISHER 201 
Sacred Kingfishers come to us in October and leave 
about January. I find my earliest record is of one 
seen on September 29th (191 2) near Jan Juc (not 
calling), and latest, February 6th (1902), when I saw 
one pursued through the air by a Laughing Jackass 
near the old " Swan's Pond " in the Eastern Park. 
October is the best month to observe them, for then 
all are busy seeking nesting-sites, and in a place where 
they are plentiful, such as the banks of the Barwon, 
a little below Ceres Bridge, one is never out of the 
sound of the breeding-call — a single sharp note 
repeated it may be a dozen times, while the bird sits 
on a high branch, generally a dead one, motionless 
except for that horizontal raising and lowering of the 
neck which is characteristic of the Kingfishers, 
The eggs are four or sometimes five in number, 
pearly white, and are laid on decayed wood at the 
bottom of a hollow in a tree, generally a rounded 
chamber where there has been, at one time, a knot in 
the wood. The hole usually goes in about 6 inches, 
the eggs lying at such a short distance below the 
entrance to the hollow that the bird can look out 
without more than raising herself. I have seen 
nests at heights from the ground varying from 6 to 
30 feet. The birds cease to call about Christmas 
time, and I think most eggs are laid in November. 
Sacred Kingfishers are found in the summer at 
Ocean Grove, Bream Creek, Anglesea, and Airey's 
Inlet ; and a few visit the suburbs of Geelong. 
