RUBY-THROAT (Archilochus colubris) 



Leni;tli, about 3}.4 inches. Needs no descrip- 

 tion, as it is the only linmnier livnig in tlie 

 Eastern t^tates. 



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 

 antl L"ui^iana through southern i\Iexico and 

 Central America to Panama. 



Of the l)\e hundred or more species of this 

 strictly American family, the eastern United 

 States is favored b.v 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. .-\s if afraid of being too prodigal of 

 lier .gifts. Nature has denied the hummingbird 

 s:ing, and the harsh squeaks of these tiny 

 sprites are far better adapted to making war 

 th.an love. Truth is, the huminer has a sharp 

 temper and not only engages in warfare with 

 its iiwn kind. l:iut 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- 

 keepin.g 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 tn its bill of fare a liberal supply of 

 minute insects .ind spiders of various sorts. 



WHIP-POOR-WILL (Antrostomus 

 vociferus) 



Length, about lo inches. Not to be con- 

 fused with the nighthawk, which flies b\' day 

 and has white wing bars, while the whip-poor- 

 will is crepuscular and nocturnal. 



Range: Rreeds from the Atlantic to the 

 pKiins, and fmm i\Ianitoba and the eastern 

 Canadian pro\inces 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 

 ni.ghthawk's ends, is common throughout the 

 east in open woodlands, on the edges of which 

 it likes to hunt. It dozes away the hours of 

 (laN'light squatting on the ground among the 

 leaves where its marvelous protective colora- 

 tion afi'ords it safety. No sooner have the 

 shadows lengthened, however, than it becomes 

 acli\'e and its characteristic note resounds 

 through ihe 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 

 arc 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. 



RUFOUS HUMMINGBIRD (Selasphorus 

 rufus) 



Length, from 3^ to 354 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 Colimibia, and sotithern 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 snnmier itinerary a journey to distant 

 .Alaska. It reaches a latitude of 61°, much far- 

 ther north than any other of its kind. In 

 favored glades of the forests in the Rocky 

 Mountains and the Sierras during the migra- 

 tion this and other species of hummers are to 

 1)C 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 se\-eral fierce rounds fly away 

 not only fit. but eager fnr .another fray on the 

 first occasion. In a<lflitii'n to the nectar of 

 flr)wers, its standard fare, this hummer in- 

 cludes in its diet "honey dew," the sugary se- 

 cretion of plant lice which is deposited on 

 \-egetation. 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 liy sight alone, and any hit of bright 

 col(U- in the distance is sure to attract their 

 notice, as a bright red handkerchief on a bush 

 or aboiU the neck. More than once I h;i\-e ob- 

 served them poising within a few inches of 

 my head, evidently endeavoring to ascertain 

 the nature rif the red h:mdkerchicf I wore. 



ROAD RUNNER (Gedco'ccyx 

 californianus) 



Length. 20 to 24 inches, mostly tail. Quite 

 unlike any other North .American bird in form 

 and color. 



Range: From the u])per Sacramento A^alley 

 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 manv 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 ranqiart 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. 



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