YELLOWHEAD (Xanthocephalus 

 xanthocephalus) 



Lcn.ntli, alujiit 10 inches. Our liiih- blackliird 

 With a ycUcw head. 



Ran.nu : Ciinfincd to wt'Stern Ndrth America, 

 r.reeds from southern Uritish Coliiml^ia, south- 

 ern .Mackenzie, soutliwestern Keewatin, and 

 niirthern jMinnesota to southern California and 

 Arizona, east to southern Wisconsin, Illinois, 

 and Indiana: winters frnni southwestern Cali- 

 fiirni.a, soulhern .\rizona. southeastern Texas, 

 and southwestern Li-uisiana south into Alexico. 



Apparently Nature started out with the in- 

 tention of making an oriole, hut decided to 

 make a hlackhird insteail — and hehnld the yel- 

 Inwhead. He is a sociable chap and nests in 

 great companies in the tule swamps of the 

 west. The yellowdiead's voice is harsh and 

 guttural and his vocal efforts have been well 

 characterized as a maximum of earnest effort 

 with a minimum of harmony. Late in mid- 

 summer when the young are on the wing, old 

 and young betake themselves to the uplands, 

 grain fields, p.astiu'es, anrl corrals, associating 

 as often as not with redwings and Brewer's 

 blackbirds. The yellowdiead feeds principally 

 upon insects, grain, .and weed seed, and does 

 not attack fruit or garden produce : but it docs 

 much good by eating noxious insects and 

 troublesome weeds ; where too abundant it is 

 likely to be injurious to grain. 



STARLING (Sturnus vulgaris) 



Length, about i^'A inches. Gener.il color dark 

 purple or green with rellcctions : feathers above 

 tijiped with creamy buff'. In flight and general 

 apjiearance indike any native species. 



I-iange : At present most numerous near Xcw 

 York City. Has spread to Massachusetts, Con- 

 necticut, Xcw Jersey. Pennsylvania, Maryland, 

 Virginia, .and recently to the District of Co- 

 lumbia; resident where found, though wander- 

 ing southward in winter in search of food. 



The Old World has sent us two liird pests — 

 the hjiglish sparrow .and the starling. Al- 

 though, up to the present time, we cannot con- 

 vict the starling of havin.g done any great dam- 

 a.ge he has proclivities which make him poten- 

 tially very dangerous. Introduced into Xcw 

 ^'ork in i8go, the original sixty have multiplied 

 m.any fold and spread in all directions till now 

 the_\- occupy territory hundreds of miles square, 

 and are nuilliplying and spreading faster than 

 ever. On the north they have entered Massa- 

 chusetts and Connecticut, and on the south 

 they have reached Richmond, though only in 

 migration. Even as I write the calls of a tlock 

 of 200 or more can lie heard coming from a 

 neighboring park, but .as yet the bird has not 

 elected to sunnner in the X'^.ational Capital. 

 The starling is a hardy, prolific bird and is also 

 aggressive. Like the English sparrow it asso- 

 ciates in flocks, which is a great advantage in 

 bird disputes. There is little doubt th.'it the 

 effect of its increase .and spread o\er our coun- 

 try will pro\-e dis.astroiis to native species, such 

 as the bluebirds, crested flycatchers, swallows, 

 wrens, and flickers, all \'aliiable economic spe- 

 cies, which nest in cavities as does the starling. 



COWBIRD (Molothrus ater) 



Length, about .S inches. Male glossy black, 

 head. neck, and breast brown. Female lirown- 

 ish gray. 



Range: Breeds froin southern P.rilish Co- 

 lumbia, soiuhern Mackenzie, and southeastern 

 Canada soiuli to nortliern California. .Vevada, 

 northern .\'ew Mexico, Texas, Louisiana, and 

 Xorth Carolina; winters from southeastern 

 California and the Ohio and Potomac valleys 

 to the Gulf and to central Mexico. 



Chapman calls the cowljird a villain — but is 

 not the \ill;iin in the piece often the most in- 

 teresting cb.ar.acter on the stage .^ Thus our 

 cowbird. short as he is of m.anners and mor.als, 

 cannot fail to interest the bird lo\er. He is 

 full of idiosyncrasies that keep one guessing. 

 Why, for instance, his close association with 

 the peaceful cow? Why his ludicrous attempts 

 to sing, he who has not a thread of music in 

 his whole make-up? Plow did ^Madame Cow- 

 bird come to lapse from the fiaths of virtue 

 and, in place of building a nest of her own, 

 foist her eggs and the care of her offspring on 

 smaller and better principled birds to their det- 

 riment ? 



CHIMNEY SWIFT (Chaetura pelagica) 



Length, r.atber less than s'j inches. Too well 

 known by its peculiar flight and habits to need 

 describin.g. 



Range: Known only in e;istern X'orth Amer- 

 ica. Rreeds from southeastern Saskatchewan, 

 Manitoba, Quebec, and Newfoundland south to 

 C.ulf coast; west to Plains from eastern Mon- 

 tana to eastern Texas; winters south of the 

 Ignited States. 



The popular name of (his bird, chimney 

 swallow, embodies .an error, since the bird not 

 only is not a swallow. l.>ut is not even distantly 

 related to the swallow family. LTnlike the 

 hununingbirds as the chimney swaft is in ap- 

 lu-arance and habits, it is structurally not far 

 retno\'ed from them. Lik'e the sw.allows it is 

 .an indef.ati.galile skimmer of the air. and like 

 them it e;irns a delit of gratitude b_\' destroy- 

 ing vast nuniliers of our winged enemies, wdiich 

 its unsurpassed powers of flight enable it to 

 capture. Indeed, chimney swifts eat nothing 

 hut insects, and no insect that flies is safe from 

 them, unless it he too large for them to swal- 

 low. In June swifts may be seen gathering 

 twigs for nest material. They disdain to pick 

 tlu'se up from the ground, but seize the co\'- 

 eted twig with their strong feet tmd break it 

 off from the terminal branch "when in full 

 flight. By means of a sticky saliva secreted 

 for the purpose the swift glues these twigs to 

 the sides of the chinmey in the form of a shal- 

 low nest. Although not gener.ally known, 

 swifts roost in chimne\"S .and cling to the walls 

 by using the sharp-pointed tail as .a prop, as 

 do many woodpeckers in ascending trees. Any 

 bird lo\er may secure distinction by solving 

 an ornithological riddle and tellin.g us where 

 our chimney swifts spend the winter. They 

 come in spring, they go in fall, and at present 

 that is about all we know of the matter, save 

 that they do not hibernate in hollow trees, as 

 manv have believed. 



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