. British birds. Birds. VOL. XI.] NOTES ON THE KINGFISHER. 223 Not until they were feeding the young on fish did I find one of their fishing-stations. This was about a quarter of a mile up stream, the lowest branch of an overhanging willow. Here the bird seemed to have forgotten her habit, so conspicuous whenever she perched in the vicinity of the nest, of jerking her head and tail, a movement which always brings to my mind the Ringed Plover. She sat perfectly motionless, intent on the water beneath, suddenly to dive and shoot back with a fish, which was promptly swallowed. Then she dived agai
. British birds. Birds. VOL. XI.] NOTES ON THE KINGFISHER. 223 Not until they were feeding the young on fish did I find one of their fishing-stations. This was about a quarter of a mile up stream, the lowest branch of an overhanging willow. Here the bird seemed to have forgotten her habit, so conspicuous whenever she perched in the vicinity of the nest, of jerking her head and tail, a movement which always brings to my mind the Ringed Plover. She sat perfectly motionless, intent on the water beneath, suddenly to dive and shoot back with a fish, which was promptly swallowed. Then she dived again and came up apparently empty- " ; A third time she dived and returned with a fish, this time banging it four or five times on the perch, and then disappearing d o w n stream with it. Her method of diving was quite similar to that on the day when I saw her taking a bath, but there was no attempt at preening this time. Here and at the nest her attitude when w perching was always the same, \\dth the usual attitude of adult when perching. tail hanging down DrmvnbyW. Howan. perpendicularly. When the head was jerked the tail was simultaneously jerked forwards, bobbing for a second right under the perch. I never saw either of the birds adopt any of those fantastic attitudes so frequently attributed to them in illustrations. My sketch (Fig. 2) is one of a series made at the time. Just before flight there is a general compression of the plumage, when for a second there is a leaning forward, before the precipitate launch into the air, but to the last moment the tail points down. I never saw the two birds at the same time, nor did I see either of them hover over the water, as they are said to do on occasions preparatory to diving. 1 did see one of them, â ^^ â¢J. Please note that these images are extracted from scanned page images that may have been digitally enhanced for readability - coloration and appearance of these illustrations may not perfectly resemble the or
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1900, bookpublisherl, booksubjectbirds
