. Gray Lady and the birds; stories of the bird year for home and school . th a Ught tail feathers are tipped with white, so that, as you lookat the bird from below, it shows large white spots. ThisCuckoo takes its name because the lower part of its billis yellow, but you will scarcely notice this when he is inthe trees, where he spends the greater part of his time insearching for insects and caterpillars, which are his fa-vourite food. The nest is a shallow, rather shiftless sort of an affair,and very often has so little lining that if the vine or bushin which it is placed tips a lit
. Gray Lady and the birds; stories of the bird year for home and school . th a Ught tail feathers are tipped with white, so that, as you lookat the bird from below, it shows large white spots. ThisCuckoo takes its name because the lower part of its billis yellow, but you will scarcely notice this when he is inthe trees, where he spends the greater part of his time insearching for insects and caterpillars, which are his fa-vourite food. The nest is a shallow, rather shiftless sort of an affair,and very often has so little lining that if the vine or bushin which it is placed tips a little, the pale blue eggs arein danger of rolling out. What the Cuckoos lack in house-keeping thrift they make up as destroyers of harmfulinsects, and here it has helped to keep the old orchardalive by tearing apart the nests of the tent caterpillarand eating the inhabitants. These mischievous caterpillarsused to be content to live in the wild cherry trees that linethe roads and old pastures. People cut these down inconsequence, so after a time the caterpillar found that. oo o D o Q mJJS o SOME BIRDS THAT COME IN MAY 405 apple trees were quite as much to his taste and seizedupon the orchards. Then comes Master Cuciioo, andwherever the tent worms are, there we find him also. Somany has he been known to devour that one of the WiseMen, upon examining the stomach of a Cuckoo that hadbeen killed, found it lined with a sort of felt made fromthe hairs of the caterpillars. So, if you hear the harsh call near by, be very glad;the sound may not please the ear, but the bird is a pleasureto the sight as he slips away silently through the treesto do work for us that we cannot do as well. The Bed-eyed Vireo, excepting the Catbird, is the mosttalkative bird that we have; in fact, so fond is he of thesound of his own voice that he is rarely silent Red-eyedduring the daylight hours. Then, too, his elo- ^*°quence has a questioning and arguing quality that madeWilson Flagg give him the nickname of
Size: 1329px × 1880px
Photo credit: © Reading Room 2020 / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1900, bookidcu319240, booksubjectbirds
