UGANDA JOUVtAL.


The hole goes back a great length, as much as seven feet if no obstacle is met
with. Just in front of the nesting chamber an angle is made, at the end of the
tunnel, and room is there provided for turning round. The chamber is usually
large enough for the easy movement of the bird. The eggs, streaky white and
usually two to five in number, are laid on the bottom of the chamber, on the earth;
for the chamber is not lined with moss, down, leaves or twigs as in the nests of
other birds. Fishbones are much in evidence in the chamber during the later
stages of incubation, for the birds eject portions of bones from the stomach in
castings, like owls and hawks, and soon there is an abundance of unpleasant odours.
Sanitation has no place in the Pied Kingfisher's home and the chamber is a place
of horror, best left alone for the stench is as patent as the darkness. When the
brood leaves the nest they are taught how to fish for themselves and are fed
during this tuition, which lasts about a month. The lesson over, a new generation
of kingfishers has arrived.
 Breeding of the Pied Kingfisher is at maximum during the heavy rains and
is much less during the short rains in August and October. Only a few breed in
the driest months, late May and June. The types of breeding sites preferred by
the Pied Kingfisher on some of the islands in Lake Victoria, and the number of
nests found at different seasons are shown in the following table, which is from
observations made over a period of one year:-


Locality. Type of breeding site.
Kimmi White Sand
Mpata
Zinga
Nsadzi
Bulago
Bugala (Sesse)
Damba Coarse sand and stones
Ngamba
Lukalu
Wema Brown sand and red earth
Kibibi
Nsadzi
Sindiro
Kerenge
Bugala (Sesse)
Tavu Vegetable debris, brown earth
Kome
Kizima
Kome Old termite-hills


March-April.
 70
 38
 21
 44
 104
 51
 50
 14
 29
 19
 8
 17
 5
 5
 12
 7
 14
 7
 9


May
0
3
0
0
8
2
10
0
2
0
2
1
2
0
6
3
9
2
0


 Aug. & Sept.
 22
 7
 3
 19
 48
 16
 21
 4
 12
 49
 36
 23
 15
 17
 42
No record.
No record.
 0
 0


 From these observations it seems that the birds carefully choose nesting sites
in a locality; white sand being their first choice, followed by coarse sand and
pebbles, and so on to brown sand and red earth, banks of vegetable debris and
termite-hills, these last only being used in the absence of any other suitable
ground. Hard clay is entirely unsuitable; the birds sometimes make unavailing
efforts to burrow in it but accept failure after penetrating a foot or so.