188 NEW ZEALAND NATURE-STUDY BOOK 
Perched on a bough near a stream, the Kingfisher will 
spend hours watching the waters close by, apparently an 
uninterested spectator of his surroundings. “ He seems to 
have no more serious business on hand than to display his 
gaudy plumage in the sun. Suddenly however all outward 
signs of mental activity vanish ; a few rapid strokes of the 
wings, and, with his spear-like bill thrust well forward, and 
his wings tucked in, he darts through the air, a living flash 
of light, touches the surface of the water and secures the 
fish for which he has waited so long. A sudden twist, a 
few more rapid strokes of the wings, and he returns to land 
with the prey, knocks it on a stone or other hard substance 
until it is dead, or squeezes it to death between his 
powerful mandibles, and then swallows it whole, most 
likely head first.” 
Our Kingfisher, like other members of the family, 1s 
a grave, sedate, mournful, and usually silent bird. Even 
when not engaged in fishing, it often sits motionless 
without uttering a sound. It never delights to flit about 
in the trees, as if happy in existence. It has no real song ; 
and its cries are monotonous and harsh, and without any 
sweet music. 
The Nest is generally tunnelled into a bank, wall, or 
tree. The tunnel is about sixteen inches long, and two 
inches in diameter at the entrance. The floor of the 
tunnel rises from the entrance, and leads to an inner 
chamber about seven inches long and five and a half inches 
wide, while the height from the floor to the roof is four 
inches. This is the egg-chamber. It is hollowed out 
slightly below the floor of the tunnel, so that neither the 
eggs nor the young, when they are first hatched, can roll 
out and meet with accidents. 
The birds usually lay from five to seven eggs and breed 
twice a year. The eggs are white and a little more than 
an inch in length. 
