The nest is as unusual and interesting as the bird himself. It consists of a tunnel excavated in a bank by the long knife-shaped bills of the kingfisher and his mate. A cavity of good size must be hollowed out to accommodate so large a bird and a family of from five to eight lusty youngsters. They are lively and quarrelsome; they set up a great clamor when Father or Mother arrives with an already-prepared fish-dinner. Dr. Francis H. Herrick, in his delightful book, “The Home Life of Wild Birds,” tells of his observations of a kingfisher’s nest and nesting habits as follows: “The nest had a 4 inch bore; 4 feet from the opening was a vaulted chamber 6 inches high and 10 inches across....”
A series of rattles announced the approach of the parent bird “who came at full tilt with a fish in her bill, making the earth resound.” In response came “muffled rattles of five young kingfishers, who issued from their subterranean abode.... With a rattle in shrillest crescendo, she bolted right into the hole, delivered the fish, remained for half a minute, then came out backwards, turning in the air as she dropped from the entrance, and with a parting rattle was off to the river.”
There were five babies in what Dr. Herrick called the “King Row.” They were amusing to look at as they sat back on their legs; the bill of one nestling protruded above the shoulder of the bird in front of it. They never seized their food (fish) of their own accord. “It was necessary to open their bills and press the food well down into the distensible throats.” Raw meat was rejected, but they throve on fish. “Kingfishers’ throats are lined with inwardly projecting papillae so that when a fish is once taken in its throat, it is impossible for it to escape.”[87]
The young kingfishers that Dr. Herrick observed became very tame. He is pictured with them on his hand, his shoulder, and on both knees.
While kingfishers do less good than most of our feathered benefactors, they do not destroy enough fish to be a detriment to the fishing interests of lakes and streams. They are true sportsmen, whose presence we should miss when we followed the rod and creel. We are forced to respect their prowess, and we may apostrophize them in the words of Izaac Walton: “Angling is an Art, and you know that Art better than others; and that this is the truth is demonstrated by the fruits of that pleasant labor which you enjoy.”
FIELD SPARROW
THE FIELD SPARROW
Finch Family—Fringillidæ
Length: About 5½ inches.
General Appearance: A small brown bird with a reddish back and bill, and a buff breast without spots or streaks.
Male and Female: Top of head reddish-brown; sides of head, nape of neck, and line over eye gray; bill reddish-brown; back reddish-brown, streaked with black and gray; rump brownish-gray; wings and tail brown, some wing-feathers edged with gray; sides and breast washed with buff.
Song: A sweet trill, consisting of the syllable dee repeated a number of times. It varies with different individuals, but is phrased somewhat as follows: Dee′-dee′-dee′, de′-de, de′-de, de′-de, de′-de, de′-de, de′-de.
Habitat: Old overgrown pastures containing clumps of bushes, preferred to cultivated fields. This sparrow is not accurately named, for it is not strictly a bird of the fields.
Range: Eastern North America. Breeds from southern Minnesota, Michigan, Quebec, and Maine to central Texas, Louisiana, and northern Florida; winters from Missouri, Illinois, southern Pennsylvania, and New Jersey to the Gulf Coast.
Some gorgeous but noisy birds, like blue jays, peacocks, and parrots, please only the eye; many quietly-dressed but sweet-voiced songsters are a delight to the ear. To the latter class belongs the Field Sparrow, a gentle little bird, so rarely seen as to recall to our minds the lines: