36 
STRANGE DWELLINGS. 
Generally, the nest is placed in the deserted burrow of a 
water-vole, but in this instance it had been made in the empty 
tunnel of a water-shrew, so that the hole was of comparatively 
small dimensions, and would not admit my hand and arm with- 
out some artificial enlargement. I11 all cases, the bird takes care 
to increase the size of the burrow at the spot where the nest is 
made, and to choose a burrow that slopes upwards, so that 
however high the water may rise, the nest will be perfectly dry. 
That the eggs are laid upon dry fish-bones is a fact that has 
long been known, but for an accurate account of the nest we 
are indebted to Mr. Gould, the eminent ornithologist. 
Until he succeeded in removing the nest entire, no one had 
been able to perform such a feat, and so well known to all 
bird-nesters is the difficulty of the task, that a legend was, and 
perhaps is still, current in various parts of England, that the 
authorities of the British Museum had offered a reward of 100/. 
to anyone who would deposit in their collection a perfect nest 
of the Kingfisher. This feat has been admirably accomplished 
by Mr. Gould. . 
The nest is composed wholly of fish-bones, minnows furnish- 
ing the greater portion. These bones are ejected by the bird 
when the flesh is digested, just as an owl ejects the pellets on 
which her eggs are laid. The walls of the nest are about half 
an inch in thickness, and its form is very flat. The circular 
shape and slight hollow show that the bird really forms the mass 
of bones into a nest, and does not merely lay her eggs at random 
upon the ejecta. The whole of these bones were deposited 
and arranged in the short space of three weeks. 
It may possibly be owing to these bones and the partial de- 
composition which must take place during the time occupied in 
drying, that the burrow possesses so exceedingly evil an odour. 
This unpleasant effluvium, which may indeed be called by the 
stronger name of stench, is wonderfully enduring, and clings to 
the bird as well as to its dwelling. The feathers of the King- 
fisher are most lovely to the eye, but the proximity of the bird 
is by no means agreeable to the nostrils, the 4 ancient and fish- 
like smell ’ being extremely penetrating. I have now before me 
