BIRDS OF PEASEMARSH 



alike. They can be distinguished, however, by 

 their note, the coo-coo call of the yellow-billed 

 being lower and sweeter and softer than that of 

 the black-billed. Both are slender, long-tailed 

 birds with the upper parts brown, a slight olive 

 tinge on the back and the lower parts white. 

 They are fond of old orchards, especially un- 

 pruned orchards, and tangled thickets and 

 overgrown fences. As they usually nest in low 

 trees it is quite easy to avoid their birdlings 

 when spraying the orchards. 



There is only one other member of the 

 Cuckoo order, and that is one of very little im- 

 portance to the farmer, the Kingfisher. He 

 is not much like the Cuckoo, but then when 

 birds belong to the same order but not to the 

 same family they should be called second cou- 

 sins, and that is a sufficiently distant relation- 

 ship to warrant distinct differences. We sel- 

 dom see him anywhere, except down by the 

 stream. Poor Kingfisher, his rent is always 

 overdue, for he spends all his time fishing and 

 pays no attention whatever to our injurious 

 insects. Still, he is a handsome, cheery tenant, 

 and we should not want our sanctuary to be 

 without him. There is this to be said in his 

 [104] 



