302 LAND-BIRDS AND GAME-BIRDS 



woodpeckers, but show little affinity to the o.ther picarian 

 groups. They are characterized as follows : bill deepest at 

 the base (?), with upper outline convex, and the lower con- 

 cave ; toes arranged in pairs ; tail-feathers ten ; feathers above 

 the tarsus long and flowing. 



The cuckoos are insectivorous, and eat great numbers of 

 caterpillars ; but unfortunately they often rob the nests of other 

 birds, though not, like the European cuckoos, parasitic. On 

 account of their peculiar notes, however, they have been called 

 "Cow-birds." They are migratory but not gregarious. They 

 build rude and frail nests, of sticks or the like, in a bush or 

 tree, and lay several bluish or greenish eggs, often at irregular 

 intervals. 



I. TROCHILUS 



(A) COLUBRIS. Riiby-tliroated Hummingbird? 



(A summer-resident throughout New England.) 



(a). About 3 1 inches long. Golden green above; white 

 beneath. Wings and tail, brownish-purple. , with the 

 sides green, and the throat metallic, reflecting ruby-red. Tail 

 simply forked. 9 , with the tail slightly forked, and "double- 

 rounded," more or less black-barred, and, on the outer feathers, 

 white-tipped. 



(6). The Hummingbird's nest may be considered a perfect 

 type of bird-architecture, and, as such, is one of the most 

 beautiful objects in nature, though composed of simple mate- 

 rials, gathered chiefly from weeds, and though constructed by 

 but a single instrument. Had not man ideal in art, his w x orks 

 could not be favorably compared with such a production as 

 this. "What enlightened person," says an anonymous writer, 

 whom I have already quoted, "can gaze upon this nest without 

 regretting that man should in the progress of civilization so 

 often forget nature, fail to appreciate her, or even wrong her?" 



8 A "LinneVs Emerald" (Argytira maculata) "was captured by Mr. William 

 Brewster, at Cambridge, in August, 1804; it was moulting, and apparently a 

 female." Though this bird may actually have wandered here from its home in 

 South America, yet such an incident is not likely to occur again. 



