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THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE 



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© Wright M. Pierce 

 BIRDLAND GANGSTERS FLEE WHEN THIS POLICEMAN OF THE AIR IS ON PATROL 



The Arkansas, or western, kingbird, like its eastern cousin, fearlessly attacks marauding crows 

 that destro}' birds' eggs and pull up young corn, and hawks that sometimes eat young birds. If it 

 nests near a poultry yard, it affords protection to the farmer's chickens (page 820). 



This belief I do not care to challenge, since 

 the cuckoo calls most frequently at seasons 

 when rain is common ! 



Like its black-billed cousin, this cuckoo 

 feeds on the hairy caterpillars that live in 

 webs in shade and fruit trees and strip ad- 

 jacent branches of fresh-grown leaves. 



I have often opened the stoinachs of 

 this and other cuckoos with similar habits 

 and found the inner walls so filled with 

 spiny hairs from caterpillars that the stom- 

 ach seemed to be lined with fur. No harm 

 comes from this and at intervals the stom- 

 ach lining is shed in pieces, leaving the 

 cavity smooth and clean. 



The yellow-billed cuckoo builds a loosely 

 constructed nest of twigs with a small cavity 

 in which it places from two to six (rarely 

 eight) pale-blue eggs. These are larger and 

 lighter in color than those of the black- 

 billed cuckoo. 



Although the eggs of black-billed and yel- 

 low-billed cuckoos have been reported oc- 

 casionally in the nests of other birds, I be- 

 lieve that this is a casual circumstance and 

 that neither can be considered parasitic. 



The yellow-billed cuckoo {Coccyziis 



atncricanus americanus) nests from North 

 Dakota and New Brunswick to northeast- 

 ern Mexico and Florida. In winter it is 

 found from Venezuela to Uruguay. 



The California cuckoo [Coccyzus a. acci- 

 dent alls), which is slightly larger and paler, 

 is found from British Columbia and Colo- 

 rado to Baja California and western Texas. 

 It is supposed to winter in South America. 



Texas Kingfisher 



(Chloroccryle amcricaua scptcntrionaUs) 

 Along any small stream in southern Texas 

 one may encounter a bird that is obviously 

 a kingfisher and yet is no larger in body 

 than a bluebird (Color Plate IV) . 



Its strong, heavy bill, its position as it 

 rests on a perch, and its mannerisms are 

 unmistakably those of its larger, more com- 

 mon cousin. But its small size gives the 

 bird certain liberties, as it may dart out at 

 any moment, like a flycatcher, to snap at 

 some flying insect. In the next instant the 

 bird is intent on minnows and other small 

 creatures in the water. It prefers small 

 clear streams to the larger rivers with silt- 

 laden currents. 



