RUBY-THROAT (Archilochus colubris) 



Length, about s^ inches. Needs no descrip- 

 tion, as it is the only hummer living in the 

 Eastern States. 



Range: Breeds from southeastern Saskatch- 

 ewan and central Quebec south to Gulf coast, 

 west to North Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas, and 

 central Texas; winters from middle Florida 

 and Louisiana through southern Alexico and 

 Central America to Panama. 



Of the five hundred or more species of this 

 strictly .American family, the eastern United 

 States is favored by the presence of only one, 

 the ruby-tiiroat, nor is this species as common 

 as might be desired. Compared to the abun- 

 dance of its kind in the far west it is rare in- 

 deed. As if afraid of being too prodigal of 

 her gifts. Nature has denied the hummingbird 

 song, and the harsh squeaks of these tiny 

 sprites are far better adapted to making war 

 than love. Truth is, the hummer has a sharp 

 temper and not only engages in warfare with 

 its own kind, but attacks any bird, however 

 large, that ventures to dispute its territorial 

 rights. These are not small, for in its own 

 estimation it is literally "Lord of all it sur- 

 veys." The male is an inconstant swain and 

 no sooner is the nest made — and in the making- 

 he takes no part^ — and the eggs laid than he 

 departs, leaving the joys and cares of house- 

 keeping to his erstwhile mate. While the nec- 

 tar of flowers is eaten in large quantities, a 

 creature so vivacious as the hummer could 

 hardly sustain life on diet so thin, and the 

 bird adds to its bill of fare a liberal supply of 

 minute insects and spiders of various sorts. 



WHIP-POOR-WILL (Antrostomus 

 vcciferus) 



Length, about ro inches. Not to be con- 

 fused with the nighthawk, which flies by day 

 and has white wing bars, while the whip-poor- 

 will is crepuscular and nocturnal. 



Range : Breeds from the Atlantic to the 

 plains, and from Manitoba and the eastern 

 Canadian provinces south to northern parts of 

 Lnuisiana, Mississippi and Georgia ; winters 

 from vSouth Carolina and the Gulf States to 

 Central .'\merica. 



This bird of the night, whose day begins 

 with tiic going down of the sun when the 

 nighthawk's ends, is common throughout the 

 east in open woodlands, on the edges of which 

 it likes to hunt. It dozes away the hours of 

 daylight squatting on the ground among the 

 leaves where its marvelous protective colora- 

 tion affords it safety. No sooner have the 

 shadows lengthened, however, than it becomes 

 active and its characteristic note resounds 

 through the forest glades. So plaintive is its 

 cry and so mysterious its comings and goings 

 that in the minds of many its notes are asso- 

 ciated with misfortune, as a death in the house 

 near which it persistently calls. Its two eggs 

 are laid among the leaves, needing no other 

 protection than the cover of the mother's body. 

 The whip-poor-will may be accounted one of 

 our most efficient insect destroyers, as its im- 

 mensely capacious mouth beset with bristles, a 

 regular insect trap, would suggest. 



RUFOUS HUMMINGBIRD (Selasphorus 

 rufus) 



Lengtli, from 3^ to ^^4 inches. The red- 

 dish brown body color, red and green gorget, 

 and the notch in tail feathers serve tn distin- 

 guish this species from our other hummers. 



Range : Breeds from the Alaskan coast, east 

 central British Columbia, and southern .Alberta 

 south to the mountains of central California 

 and southern Idaho. 



One can but wonder at the hardihood of tliis 

 little wanderer from the tropics in including 

 in its summer itinerary a journey to distant 

 Alaska. It reaches a latitude of 61°, much far- 

 ther north than any other of its kind. Tn 

 favored glades of the forests in the Rooky 

 Mountains and the Sierras during the migra- 

 tion this and other species of hummers are to 

 be seen literally by hundreds. The rufons 

 hummer has temper and courage to match its 

 fiery hues, and spends no small part of its 

 time doing battle with its fellows. The con- 

 testants after several fierce rounds fly away 

 not only fit, but eager for another fray on the 

 first occasion. In addition to the nectar of 

 flowers, its standard fare, this hummer in- 

 cludes in its diet "honey dew," the sugary se- 

 cretion of plant lice which is deposited on 

 vegetation. Like all other hummers, it eats 

 large numbers of minute insects which it finds 

 inside the flowers. It is interesting to note 

 that hummingbirds discover the flowers they 

 frequent by sight alone, and any bit of bright 

 color in the distance is sure to attract their 

 notice, as a bright red handkerchief on a bush 

 or about the neck. More than once I have ob- 

 served them poising within a few inches of 

 my head, evidently endeavoring to ascertain 

 the nature nf the red handkerchief I wore. 



ROAD RUNNER (Geococcyx 

 californianus) 



Length, 20 to 24 inches, mostly tail. Quite 

 unHke any other North American bird in form 

 and color. 



Range : From the upper Sacramento Valley 

 south through California and the peninsula and 

 frorn Colorado, Kansas, middle and western 

 Texas, Arizona and New Mexico southward ; 

 resident. 



The name "road runner" when applied to a 

 cuckoo may seem an anomaly to those who 

 know only our eastern cuckoos, but in truth 

 the road runner is anomalous in many ways. 

 It is distinguished by curiously marked plu- 

 mage, the possession of a long bill and a dis- 

 proportionally long tail. As a result of its 

 strange appearance, and stranger antics, the 

 road runner is made the hero of many a faille. 

 Among other wonders, it is claimed that it can 

 outrun the swiftest horse and kill the biggest 

 rattlesnake. It is said to accomplish the latter 

 feat by surrounding the reptile while asleep 

 with a rampart of cactus spines on which the 

 enraged reptile accommodatingly impales itself. 



The truth is that when in a hurry this ground 

 cuckoo can run with great speed, though as yet 

 no ofiicial record of its best time has been 

 made. Its food consists of a great variety of 

 harmful insects — mice, lizards, and small 

 snakes. 



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