RUBY-THROAT (Archilochus colubris) 
Length, about 334 inches. Needs no descrip- 
tion, as it is the only hummer living in the 
Fastern States. 
Range: Breeds from southeastern Saskatch- 
ewan and central Quebec south to Gulf coast, 
west to North Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas, and 
central Texas; winters from middle Florida 
and Louisiana through southern Mexico and 
Central America to Panama. 
Of the five hundred or more species of this 
strictly American family, the eastern United 
States is favored by the presence of only one, 
the ruby-throat, nor is this species as common 
as might be desired. Compared to the abun- 
dance of its kind in the far west it is rare in- 
deed. As if afraid of being too prodigal of 
her gifts, Nature has denied the hummingbird 
song, and the harsh squeaks of these tiny 
sprites are far better adapted to making war 
than love. Truth is, the hummer has a sharp 
temper and not only engages in warfare with 
its own kind, but attacks any bird, however 
large, that ventures to dispute its territorial 
rights. These are not small, for in its own 
estimation it is literally “Lord of all it sur- 
veys.” The male is an inconstant swain and 
no sooner is the nest made—and in the making 
he takes no part—and the eggs laid than he 
departs, leaving the joys and cares of house- 
keeping to his erstwhile mate. While the nec- 
tar of flowers is eaten in large quantities, a 
creature so vivacious as the hummer could 
hardly sustain life on diet so thin, and the 
bird adds to its bill of fare a liberal supply of 
minute insects and spiders of various sorts. 
WHIP-POOR-WILL (Antrostomus 
vociferus) 
Length, about 10 inches. Not to be con- 
fused with the nighthawk, which flies by day 
and has white wing bars, while the whip-poor- 
will is crepuscular and nocturnal. 
Range: Breeds from the Atlantic to the 
plains, and from Manitoba and the eastern 
Canadian provinces south to northern parts of 
Louisiana, Mississippi and Georgia; winters 
from South Carolina and the Gulf States to 
Central America. 
This bird of the night, whose day begins 
with the going down of the sun when the 
nighthawk’s stds: is common throughout the 
east in open woodlands, on the edges of which 
it likes to hunt. It dozes away the hours of 
daylight squatting on the ground among the 
leaves where its marvelous protective colora- 
tion affords it safety. No sooner have the 
shadows lengthened, however, than it becomes 
active and its characteristic note resounds 
through the forest glades. So plaintive is its 
cry and so mysterious its comings and goings 
that in the minds of many its notes are asso- 
ciated with misfortune, as a death in the house 
near which it persistently calls. Its two eggs 
are laid among the leaves, needing no other 
protection than the cover of the mother’s body. 
The whip-poor-will may be accounted one of 
our most efficient insect destroyers, as its im- 
mensely capacious mouth beset with bristles, a 
regular insect trap, would suggest. 
38 
RUFOUS HUMMINGBIRD (Selasphorus 
rufus) 
Length, from 3% to 334 inches. The red- 
dish brown body color, red and green gorget, 
and the notch in tail feathers serve to distin- 
guish this species from our other hummers. 
Range: Breeds from the Alaskan coast, east 
central British Columbia, and southern Alberta 
south to the mountains of central California 
and southern Idaho. 
One can but wonder at the hardihood of this 
little wanderer from the tropics in including 
in its summer itinerary a journey to distant 
Alaska. It reaches a latitude of 61°, much far- 
ther north than any other of its kind. In 
favored elades of the forests in the Rocky 
Mountains and the Sierras during the migra- 
tion this and other species of hummers are to 
be seen literally by hundreds. The rufous 
hummer has temper and courage to match its 
fiery hues, and spends, no small part of its 
time doing battle with its fellows. The con- 
testants after several fierce rounds fly away 
not only fit, but eager for another fray on the 
first occasion, In addition to the nectar of 
flowers, its standard fare, this hummer in- 
cludes in its diet “honey dew,” the sugary se- 
cretion of plant lice which is deposited on 
vegetation. Like all other hummers, it eats 
large numbers of minute insects which it finds 
inside the flowers, It is interesting to note 
that hummingbirds discover the flowers they 
frequent by sight alone, and any bit of bright 
color in the distance is sure to attract their 
notice, as a bright red handkerchief on a bush 
or about the neck. More than once I have ob- 
served them poising within a few inches of 
my head, evidently endeavoring to ascertain 
the nature of the red handkerchief I wore. 
ROAD RUNNER (Geococcyx 
californianus) 
Length, 20 to 24 inches, mostly tail. Quite 
unlike any other North American bird in form 
and color. 
Range: From the upper Sacramento Valley 
south through California and the peninsula and 
from Colorado, Kansas, middle and western 
Texas, Arizona and New Mexico southward; 
resident. 
The name “road runner” when applied to a 
cuckoo may seem an anomaly to those who 
know only our eastern cuckoos, but in truth 
the road runner is anomalous in many ways. 
It is distinguished by curiously marked plu- 
mage, the possession of a long bill and a dis- 
proportionally long tail. As a result of its 
strange appearance, and stranger antics, the 
road runner is made the hero of many a fable. 
Among other wonders, it is claimed that it can 
outrun the swiftest horse and kill the biggest 
rattlesnake. It is said to accomplish the latter 
feat by surrounding the reptile while asleep 
with a rampart of cactus spines on which the 
enraged reptile accommodatingly impales itself. 
The truth is that when in a hurry this ground 
cuckoo can run with great speed, though as yet 
no official record of its best time has been 
made. Its food consists of a great variety of 
harmful insects—mice, lizards, and small 
snakes. 
