The Bird Book Part 50

Their nests are made of twigs, lined with shreds of grape vine bark or catkins; the nests are generally very shabbily made and so flat on the top that the eggs frequently roll off. They are located near the ground in bushes or low trees. The three or four eggs are deposited at intervals of several days, and frequently young birds and eggs are found in the nest at the same time. Like the Flicker, this bird will frequently continue laying if one egg is removed at a time, and as many as twelve have been taken from the same nest, by this means. The eggs are light greenish blue. Size 1.20 .90. They are usually laid during May or June.

[Ill.u.s.tration 246: Mangrove Cuckoo. Yellow-billed Cuckoo.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: Light greenish blue.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: Pale greenish blue.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: deco.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: left hand margin.]

Page 245

[Ill.u.s.tration 247: A. R. Spaid.

NEST AND EGGS OF YELLOW-BILLED CUCKOO.]

Page 246

387a. CALIFORNIA CUCKOO. _Coccyzus america.n.u.s occidentalis._

Range.--Western North America, from British Columbia, southward.

Slightly larger and with a stouter bill than the last. Eggs not distinguishable.

388. BLACK-BILLED CUCKOO. _Coccyzus erythrophthalmus._

Range.--United States east of the Rocky Mountains; north to Labrador and Manitoba; south in winter to Central and South America.

This species is rather more common in the northern part of the United States than the Yellow-billed variety. The bird is smaller, has a blackish bill, and the tail is the same color as the back and only slightly tipped with white. Their nests are built in similar locations and of the same materials as used by the Yellow-bill; the three or four eggs are smaller and a darker shade of greenish blue. Size 1.15 .85.

All the Cuckoos are close sitters and will not leave the nest until nearly reached with the hand, when they will slowly flutter off through the underbrush, and continue to utter their mournful "Kuk-kuk-kuk," many times repeated.

388.1. KAMCHATKA CUCKOO. _Cuculus canorus telephonus._

An Asiatic subspecies of the common European Cuckoo, accidentally occurring in Alaska.

TROGONS. Family TROGONIDae

389. COPPERY-TAILED TROGON. _Trogon ambiguus._

Range.--Southern Mexico, north to the Lower Rio Grande in Texas and in southern Arizona, in both of which localities they probably breed.

This is the only member of this family of beautiful birds which reaches our borders. This species is 12 inches in length, and is a metallic green color on the upper parts and breast, and with coppery reflections of the middle tail feathers, the outer ones being white, very finely vermiculated with black, as are the wing coverts. The underparts, except for a white band across the breast, are rosy red. This species nest in cavities in large trees, generally in large, deserted Woodp.e.c.k.e.r holes.

They are also said to have been found nesting in holes in banks. Their eggs are three or four in number and are a dull white in color. Size 1.10 .85.

[Ill.u.s.tration 248: Black-billed Cuckoo.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: Greenish blue.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: Dull White.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: 387a--389.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: left hand margin.]

Page 247

KINGFISHERS. Family ALCEDINIDae

390. BELTED KINGFISHER. _Ceryle alcyon._

Range.--Whole of North America, breeding from southern United States, northward and wintering from the southern parts of its breeding range, southward.

This well known bird is abundant in all localities near water, where its rattling notes are among the most familiar of sounds. Their food is almost entirely of small fish, which they catch by plunging upon from their perch on an old dead limb overhanging the water, or by hovering in the air like an Osprey. Their nests are located at the end of burrows in sand banks or the banks of creeks and rivers. These tunnels, which are dug by the birds, generally commence two or three feet from the top of the bank and extend back from six to eight feet, either in a straight line or curved; the end is enlarged to form a suitable nesting place, in which from five to eight eggs are laid. They are glossy and pure white in color. Size 1.35 1.05. Data.--Lake Quinsigamond, Ma.s.sachusetts, June 6, 1900. 7 eggs at the end of a 6 foot tunnel in a sand bank. Bird removed by hand from the nest. Collector, C. E. Howe.

390.1. Ringed Kingfisher. _Ceryle torquata._

Range.--Mexico, north casually to the Lower Rio Grande Valley in Texas.

This handsome species is much larger than the Belted Kingfisher and the underparts are nearly all bright chestnut, except the white throat. They nest in river banks the same as the common American species, and the eggs are white, but larger. Size 1.45 1.10.

[Ill.u.s.tration 249: White.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: Belted Kingfisher.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: deco-photo.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: right hand margin.]

Page 248

[Ill.u.s.tration 250: C. A. Reed.

YOUNG KINGFISHERS.]

Page 249

391. TEXAS KINGFISHER. _Ceryle americana septentrionalis_.

Range.--Southern Texas, south through Mexico.

This variety is much smaller than the Belted, length 8 inches, and is a l.u.s.trous greenish above, variously speckled with white, and is white below, spotted with greenish. It is a common and resident species in southern Texas, where it lays its eggs in holes in the banks along streams. The eggs are white and glossy, and measure .95 .70.

WOODp.e.c.k.e.rS. Order XV. PICI.

Family PICIDAE

Woodp.e.c.k.e.rs are well known birds having sharp chisel-like bills, sharply pointed and stiffened tail feathers, and strongly clawed feet with two toes forward and two back, except in one genus. Their food is insects and grubs, which they get by boring in trees, and from under the bark, clinging to the sides of trunks or the under side of branches with their strong curved nails, aided by the tail, for a prop. They are largely resident where found.

392. IVORY-BILLED WOODp.e.c.k.e.r. _Campephilus princ.i.p.alis._

Range.--Locally distributed, and rare, in Florida, along the Gulf coast and north casually to South Carolina and Arkansas.

This is the largest of the Woodp.e.c.k.e.rs found within our borders, being 20 inches in length. But one other American species exceeds it in size, the Imperial Woodp.e.c.k.e.r of Mexico, which reaches a length of nearly two feet; as this species is found within a few miles of our Mexican border, it may yet be cla.s.sed as a North American bird. The present species has a large, heavy, ivory-white bill. They can readily be identified, at a great distance, from the Pileated Woodp.e.c.k.e.r by the large amount of white on the secondaries. They used to be not uncommonly seen in many sections of the southeast but are now found very locally and only in the largest and remote woods. They nest in holes in large trees in the most impenetrable swamps; laying three, and probably as many as six pure white glossy eggs measuring 1.45 1.00.