BELTED KING-FISHER. 
595 
This wild and grotesque looking feathered angler is a 
well known inhabitant of the borders of fresh waters 
from Hudson's Bay to the tropics. His delight is to 
dwell amidst the most sequestered scenes of uncultivated 
nature, by the borders of running rivulets, the roar of the 
water-fall, or amidst the mountain streamlets which 
abound with the small fish and insects constituting his 
accustomed fare. Mill-dams, and the shelving and fria- 
able banks of water-courses, suited for the sylvan retreat 
of his mate and brood, have also peculiar and necessary 
attractions for our retiring King-Fisher. By the broken, 
bushy, or rocky banks of his solitary and aquatic retreat, 
he may often be seen perched on some dead and project- 
ing branch, scrutinizing the waters for his expected 
prey ; if unsuccessful, he quickly courses the meanders 
of the streams or borders of ponds, just above their sur- 
face, and occasionally hovers for an instant, with rapidly 
moving wings, over the spot where he perceives his glid- 
ing quarry ; in the next instant, descending with a quick 
spiral sweep, he seizes a fish from the timid fry, with 
which he rises to his post, and swallows it in an instant. 
When startled from the perch, on which he spends many 
vacant hours digesting his prey, he utters commonly a 
loud, harsh, and grating cry, very similar to the interrupt- 
ed creakings of a watchman’s rattle, and almost, as it 
were, the vocal counterpart to the watery tumult amidst 
which he usually resides. 
The nest, a work of much labor, is now burrowed in 
some dry and sandy, or more tenacious bank of earth, 
situated beyond the reach of inundation. At this task 
both the parties join with bill and claws, until they have 
horizontally perforated the bank to the depth of 5 or 6 
feet. With necessary precaution, the entrance is only 
left sufficient for the access of a single bird. The ex- 
