S2S 



THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE 



Photograph by W. Robert Woore 



THE kookaburra's MOCKING, FIENDISH LAUGHTER MIGHT BE DIRECTED AT ITSELF 



"Laughing jackass" the absurdly shaped bird is called by residents and travelers in its native 

 Australian bush. This forest-dwelling kingfisher, hke its water-loving relatives, "fishes" from a stump 

 or tree limb. Unfishlike, however, is its "catch," which consists of snakes and insects, mice, rats, 

 and sometimes small birds (page 808). 



that rings in my imagination as I write 

 these lines, though it has been fifteen years 

 since I have heard these calls. 



The nest is a compact cup placed on a 

 tree limb, often at some height from the 

 ground. The eggs usually number three, and 

 are creamy buff spotted with brown and 

 lilac, often in a wreath about the larger end. 



Coues's flycatcher ranges in the moun- 

 tains from central Arizona and southwest- 

 ern New Mexico south into Nayarit, Mexico. 



Olive-sided Flycatcher 



{Niittallornis mesoleucus) 



This is a solitary bird, ordinarily found 

 perched in the top of some tall tree, often 

 on a dead limb where it has a clear and un- 

 obstructed view. On its breeding grounds 

 in the north and in the western mountains 

 it frequents pine and spruce forests where 

 its loud calls attract instant attention 

 (Color Plate VIII). 



In migration I have seen it in orchards, 

 or in roadside trees, but always on a com- 

 manding perch. Larger than our other 

 flycatchers excepting the kingbirds, it is 



known instantly by the heavy gray band 

 on either side and by the cottony fluff of 

 white feathers that shows above the wing 

 on the lower back. 



In middle latitudes of our country I have 

 watched long and eagerly for it, and the 

 rare times I have found a solitary bird have 

 been marked days indeed. In some parts 

 of the western mountains it is common. 



The nest is a shallow cup of moss, pine 

 needles, or other vegetable fibers, some- 

 times low, and sometimes far from the 

 ground. The three or four pinkish or 

 cream-colored eggs are heavily blotched 

 with brown. The old birds are pugnacious 

 in defense of their nests, and dart with 

 loudly snapping bills at the head of any 

 intruder. 



The food consists mainly of insects taken 

 while flying. In summer these birds some- 

 times eat small wild fruits. 



The olive-sided flycatcher nests in the 

 great coniferous forests of the north, from 

 central Alaska across to Quebec, ranging 

 south in the mountains to northern Baja 

 California, western Texas, and North Caro- 

 lina. It winters from Colombia to Peru. 



