A First Glance at the Birds, 



other one or two backward. This di- 

 vision embraces such dissimilar birds as 

 the cuckoos, the kingfishers, the wood- 

 peckers, the goatsuckers, swifts and 

 humming-birds. 



Of all western birds, the road-runner 

 has perhaps claimed the largest share of 

 popular attention. Its long, slender 

 body, its loose, mottled plumage, bur- 

 nished with beautiful iridescent green and 

 brown, its terrestrial habits, its superficial 

 resemblance to a fowl, and, more than 

 all else, its wonderful fleetness of foot, 

 have combined to spread its fame. Who 

 would believe it to be a cuckoo ? — yet 

 such in fact its anatomy proclaims it. An 

 inhabitant of the sage-brush, the road- 

 runner delights in the desert land which 

 most creatures shun. It is a typical 

 westerner — long, lank, and fleet of foot, 

 able to cope with the rattlesnake and 

 capable of running from the fleetest foe. 



The belted kingfisher, which helps to 

 enliven every rural stream in North 

 America with his cheery call, is not 



36 



