. The birds of Ohio; a complete scientific and popular description of the 320 species of birds found in the state . den. Again,when game is sighted, he rattles with excitement before he makes a plunge;and when he bursts out of the water with a wriggling minnow in his beak. 362 THE BELTED KIiNGFISHER. lie clatters in high glee. If, as rarely happens, the bird misses the stroke, the sputtering notes which follow speak plainly of disgust, and we are glad for the moment that Kingfisher talk is not exactly translatable. It is not quite clear whether the bird usually seizes or spears its prey, altho
. The birds of Ohio; a complete scientific and popular description of the 320 species of birds found in the state . den. Again,when game is sighted, he rattles with excitement before he makes a plunge;and when he bursts out of the water with a wriggling minnow in his beak. 362 THE BELTED KIiNGFISHER. lie clatters in high glee. If, as rarely happens, the bird misses the stroke, the sputtering notes which follow speak plainly of disgust, and we are glad for the moment that Kingfisher talk is not exactly translatable. It is not quite clear whether the bird usually seizes or spears its prey, altho it is certain that it sometimes does the latter. The story is told of a Kingfisherwhich, spy-i n g s o m eminnows in awo(jden tubnearly filledwith water,struck so eag-erly that itsliill penetrat-ed the bottomof the tub,and so thor-oughly thatthe bird wasunable to ex-tricate itself;and so died—a death al-most as igno-minious astliat of thek i n g w h owas drownedin a butt of]\I a 1 m s e vwine. W hen afish is takenthe bird firstthrashes itagainst itsperch t omake sure itis dead, andt li e n swal-lows it head. Elyria. Photo by the Author OVERLOOKING A QUIET POOL. THE BELTED KINGFISHER. 363 foremost. H the fish is a large one its would-be host often finds it necessary togo through the most ridiculous contortions, gaspings, writhings, chokings,regurgitations, and renewed attempts, in order to encompass its safe deliverywithin. King-fishers have the reputation of lieing very unsocial birds. i\partfrom their famih life, which is idyllic, this reputation is well sustained. Goodfishing is so scarce that the birds deem it best to portion off the territory withothers of their own kind, and they are very punctilious about the observanceof boundaries and allotments. For the rest, why should they hunt up aviancompanions, whose tastes are not educated to an appreciation of exposed,water-soaked stubs, and a commanding view of river scenery? However,I once did see a Kingfisher affably hobno
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1900, booksubjectbirds, bookyear1903
