RUBY-THROAT (Archilochus colubris). 



Length, about 3| inches. Needs no description 

 as it is the only hummer living in the eastern states. 



Range: Breeds from southeastern Saskatchewan 

 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 abundance of its kind in the far 

 west it is rare indeed. As if afraid of being too 

 prodigal of her gifts, Nature has denied the humming- 

 bird 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 surveys." 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 housekeeping to his 

 erstwhile mate. While the nectar of flowers is 

 eaten in large quantities, a creature so vivacious as 

 the hummer could hardlv 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. 



WKIP-POOR-WILL (Antrostomus vociferus). 



Length, about 10 inches. Not to be confused 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 Prov- 

 inces south to northern parts of Louisiana, Mis- 

 sissippi 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 ends, 

 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 coloration 

 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 associated 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 immensely capacious 

 mouth beset with bristles, a regular insect trap, 

 would suggest. Among its prey it includes May 

 beetles and moths. These two form the principal 

 articles of food and as they are parents respectively 

 of the white grub worm and an innumerable host 

 of caterpillars their destruction is of marked benefit 

 to agriculture. 



RUFOUS HUMMINGBIRD (Selasphorus 

 rufus). 



Length, from 3 J to 3 1 inches. The reddish brown 

 body color, red and green gorget, and the notch 

 in tail feathers serve to distinguish 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 farther 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 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 contestants 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 includes 

 in its diet "honey dew," the sugary secretion 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 inter- 

 esting 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 observed 

 them poising within a few inches of rriy head evi- 

 dently endeavoring to ascertain the nature of the 

 red handkerchief I wore. 



ROAD RUNNER (Geococcyx calif ornianus). 



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 plumage, the possession of a long 

 bill and a disproportionally 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 out- 

 run the swiftest horse and kill the biggest rattle- 

 snake. 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 accom- 

 modatingly 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, 

 among which the snout beetles or weevils are con- 

 spicuous. It devours also mice, horned lizards, 

 centipedes, land shells and small snakes; probably 

 a young rattlesnake would fare no better than any 

 other small snake. Its notes are difficult to inter- 

 pret with words, but are not likely to be forgotten 

 when once heard, and they are frequently uttered 

 in the early morning from the topmost bough of a 

 mesquite or other tree. 



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