MIMICS AMONG BIRDS 217 



bird by the wing, and apparently she was quite 

 limp and dead. Thinking she had fallen as the re- 

 sult of disease or accident, he tossed her into the 

 water, when to his astonishment she suddenly 

 flapped her wings and flew away. 



The landrail, whose croaking and mysterious note 

 is often heard in the corn-fields in early spring, 

 simulates death when danger is near. Perhaps titiis 

 is owing to its clumsy body and almost useless wings 

 which give it no other means of protection. It is 

 rarely seen except when flushed by a hunting dog. 

 Turkey buzzards, when captured, will often simu- 

 late death. 



Not only are many birds mimics, but quite a few 

 are ventriloquists. Raincrows have been the cause 

 of much superstition among the coloured people of 

 the South. These superstitions have arisen because 

 of the raincrows' power of making their voices come 

 from the opposite direction from which it is sent. 

 One summer I had an interesting experience with 

 a pair of raincrows in eastern Texas. I found two 

 fledgelings in a small scrubby oak tree, just ready 

 to fly. The parent birds were concealed in nearby 

 trees, while their coarse croaking voices seemed to 

 come from far away in the opposite direction. At 

 times the strange sounds seemed to emanate from 

 a small pine forest several hundred yards away. 



