Taken near Portland. Photo by A. W. Anthony.
A FISHER PRINCE AT HOME.
When a fish is taken the bird first thrashes it against its perch to make sure it is dead, and then swallows it head foremost. If the fish is a large one its captor often finds it necessary to go thru the most ridiculous contortions, gaspings, writhings, chokings, regurgitations, and renewed attempts, in order to encompass its safe delivery within.
Kingfishers have the reputation of being very unsocial birds. Apart from their family life, which is idyllic, this reputation is well sustained. Good fishing is so scarce that the birds deem it best to portion off the territory with others of their own kind, and they are very punctilious about the observance of boundaries and allotments. For the rest, why should they hunt up avian companions, whose tastes are not educated to an appreciation of exposed, water-soaked stubs, and a commanding view of river scenery? However, I did once see a Kingfisher affably hobnobbing with a Kingbird, on a barren branch which overlooked a crystal stream in Idaho. I wonder if they recognized a mutual kingliness, this humble fisherman and this petulant hawk-driver?
Kingfisher courtship is a very noisy and spirited affair. One does not know just how many miles up and down stream it is considered proper for the gallant to pursue his enamorata before she yields a coy acceptance; and it is difficult to perceive how the tender passion can survive the din of the actual proposal, where both vociferate in wooden concert to a distracted world. But la! love is mighty and doth mightily prevail.
The nesting tunnel is driven laterally into the face of a steep bank, preferably of sand or loam, usually directly over the water, but occasionally at a considerable distance from it. Dr. Brewer reports one in a gravel pit at least a mile from water. The birds are not so particular as are the Bank Swallows about digging near the top of the bank, but, especially if the bank is small, usually select a point about midway. The tunnel goes straight in or turns sharply to suit an occasional whim, until a convenient depth, say five or six feet, is reached, when a considerable enlargement is made for the nest chamber. Here, early in May, six or seven white eggs are laid, usually upon the bare earth, but sometimes upon a lining of grass, straw and trash. From time to time the birds eject pellets containing fish scales, the broken testæ of crawfish and other indigestible substances and these are added to the accumulating nest material. Sanitary regulations are not very strict in Kingfisher’s home, and by the time the young are ready to fly we could not blame them for being glad to get away. The female is a proverbially close sitter, often permitting herself to be taken with the hand, but not until after she has made a vigorous defense with her sharp beak. If a stick be introduced into the nest she will sometimes seize it so tightly that she can be lifted from the eggs, turtle fashion.
EVENING ON THE PEND D’OREILLE.
The parents are very busy birds after the young have broken shell, and it takes many a quintal of fish to prepare six, or maybe seven, lusty fisher princes for the battle of life. At this season the birds hunt and wait upon their young principally at night, in order not to attract hostile attention to them by daylight visits. Only one brood is raised in a season, and since fishing is unquestionably a fine art, the youngsters require constant supervision and instruction for several months. A troop of six or eight birds seen in August or early in September does not mean that Kingfisher is indulging in mid-summer gaities with his fellows, but only that the family group of that season has not yet been broken up.
The Kingfisher is not only a fresh water bird of wide distribution, but a lover of the sea. It is found thruout the length of our ample shores on both sound and ocean; but is, of course, most common where suitable nesting bluffs of clay or sand are afforded. Thruout western Washington the bird is largely resident, and if this very stable species ever does begin to show variation, it will be in the Pacific Northwest.