CUCKOOS AND KINGFISHERS. 45 



a thicket or low tree in some secluded spot. I found them unusually 

 numerous at Wilmot the last week of June in cypress trees along the 

 shore of a lake. This species is known to be exceedingly useful, 

 feeding exclusively on insects and showing a decided preference for 

 caterpillars, including the hairy kinds rejected by many birds. In 

 the cotton fields of Texas I found it in large numbers, destroying great 

 quantities of cotton-leaf worms (Alabama argillacea). 



Black-billed Cuckoo. Coccyzus erythropthalmus . 



The black-billed cuckoo is much rarer than the yellow-billed and 

 is known to breed in the State only in the Ozark region. The only 

 records are those furnished by Widmann, 1 who says: "In the Ozarks 

 it is reported as a breeder as far south as Heburn [ = Heber], Cleburne 

 Co., Ark., by Mr. B. T. Gault in 1888, and at Eureka Springs by Mr. 

 Philo W. Smith, Jr., in 1906." This cuckoo is essentially similar in 

 its habits to the more common species, and like it deserves the fullest 

 protection. 



Belted Kingfisher. Ceryle alcyon. 



The kingfisher is found in moderate numbers on practically all the 

 streams, lakes, and ponds of Arkansas, but is most numerous in the 

 well-watered sections in the eastern part. It is a hardy bird, many 

 individuals remaining throughout the winter in the warmer parts. 

 It has been observed in summer at Mammoth Spring, Clinton, Pea 

 Ridge, Wilmot, Womble, and other places, and has been recorded in 

 winter at Helena, Van Buren, and Judsonia; 2 Mud Lake, November 

 13; and Turrell, November 19. The food of this bird consists almost 

 exclusively of fish, the larger part of which is of species of little 

 value to man. When fish are difficult to obtain, it occasionally has 

 recourse to other food, such as crawfish, insects, and even vegetable 

 matter, as the berries of the sour gum. 3 



Ivory-billed Woodpecker. Campephilus principalis. 



This noble bird, the largest of its family in the United States, was 

 formerly common in the heavy swamps of the Mississippi Valley as 

 well as the Southeastern States generally. Through constant perse- 

 cution its numbers have been greatly reduced everywhere and it has 

 been exterminated over a large part of its range. A few are believed 

 to remain in the wilder parts of southeastern Arkansas. A writer in 

 Forest and Stream, in 1885, states that in the region about Newport 

 the ivory bill "may be found in unfrequented swamps," and adds: 

 "It is not rare, but is rarely met with." 4 It was reported from 

 Osceola in 1887 by Dr. Richardson, and Mrs. Stephenson says that 

 in 1910 the ivory bill is " reported by fairly reliable people" as still 



i Birds of Missouri, p. 118, 1907. 3 Bendire, Life Hist. N. Am. Birds [II], pp. 36-37, 1895. 



2 Reynolds, H. S., Amer. Nat., XI, p. 307, 1877. * "Yell," Forest and Stream, XXIV, p. 407, 1885. 



