File:Birds and nature (1903) (14752991834).jpg

Identifier: birdsnature141903chic (find matches)
Title: Birds and nature
Year: 1900 (1900s)
Authors:
Subjects: Birds Natural history
Publisher: Chicago, Ill. : A.W. Mumford, Publisher
Contributing Library: Smithsonian Institution Libraries
Digitizing Sponsor: Biodiversity Heritage Library

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morning there was a vigorouscackling in the vicinity of the yellowhens barrel, and a search instituted inthat direction discovered a big, warmwhite egg in the coop. A conclave waspromptly called; an excuse had beenfound, and the verdict was unanimous;it would surely be a pity to kill the henthat would daily supply them with a newlaid egg. As long as she continued topay her board her life should be spared. All the remaining days in camp theyellow hen thrived, and when the camp-ers returned home she rode in state inthe barrel, for by that time she was con-sidered quite one of the family. Several years have passed, but the oldyellow hen still survives, much respected,and the ornament of the chicken yard.She is far too tough for food, and greatlyin demand as the careful mother of largefamilies of chickens, none of whom, how-ever, have succeeded in rivaling her inthe esteem of her friends. The moral of this true tale is that con-tentment is the best policy. Elizabeth Miles Derrickson. 198
Text Appearing After Image:
THE ROAD RUNNER. (Geococcyx californ ixnus.) The range of the Road-runner is veryrestricted and includes the southwesternUnited States from Texas to the PacificOcean. It is also a native of the largerpart of Mexico, and it is found as farnorthward as southern Utah. It is prac-tically a resident of all but the northernportion of its range. This peculiar bird has several com-mon names, all more or less suggestiveof its habits. Some of the more strikingof these common names are the GroundCuckoo, the Chaparral Cock, the LizardBird and the Snake-killer. The nameRoad-runner was given this bird becauseof its terrestrial habits and the rapiditywith which it moves over the ground,where it spends much of its life search-ing for its food. This consists of in-sects, snakes, lizards, snails, worms andeven small rodents and young birds. Itdestroys vast numbers of grasshoppersand beetles, and one observer states thatlie found in the stomach of one a gartersnake that was fully twenty inches long. Maj

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