98 Bird Comrades 



or shifting his position, the picture would be true to 

 scissor stail life. 



The range of these birds is somewhat restricted, and 

 for that reason, doubtless, so little is known about their 

 habits. According to Ridgway, their proper home is in 

 eastern Mexico and the southwestern prairie districts of 

 the United States, though many of them come north as 

 far as southern Kansas and southwestern Missouri to 

 spend the summer and rear their families. In winter 

 they go as far south as Costa Rico. Restricted as their 

 habitat is, it is curious to note that they are " accidental" 

 in a few unexpected places, such as Key West, Fla., 

 Norfolk, Va., and also in several localities in New Eng- 

 land, Manitoba, and Hudson Bay Territory. Prof. W. W. 

 Cooke, of Colorado, says they are " rare, if not accidental," 

 in that state. To show that our birds are unique, it is 

 relevant to say that there are only two species of scissors- 

 tailed flycatchers in North America, which have the genus 

 Milvulus all to themselves. The other member of the 

 genus is the forked- tailed flycatcher (Milvulus tyrannus), 

 a resident of tropical America, migrating north normally 

 as far as southern Mexico. He is a sort of southern 

 twin of our scissors tail. 



The nests of the scissorstails are set in the crotches of 

 trees in the neighborhood of country homes on the prairie. 

 Considering the size of the birds, their nests are quite 

 small, not so large as those of the brown thrashers, though 

 the cup is deeper and the architecture more compact and 

 elaborate. A friend describes a nest which he found on 



