Catherine Haskins, age 14, of Rice, Va., for her question:

Can a rain crow live in very dry weather?

This beautiful bird is very misunderstood, perhaps because he is rarely seen and rarely heard. Some say that Mrs. Rain Crow puts her eggs into the nests of other birds. Many people think that Mr. Rain Crow's sorrowful song foretells rain and a few think that he may even cause rain. None of these rumors are true.

The graceful bird is really a cuckoo, a distant relative of the European cuckoo. It is true that the Old World cuckoo puts her children out for adoption. She lays an egg on the ground, then carries it in her hooked beak to the nest of another bird. The baby cuckoo is brought up with his foster brothers and sisters and he sometimes grows big enough to shove them out of their rightful nest.

There are two New World cuckoos, the black billed and the yellow¬billed. Both have 'olive green backs, soft satiny white breasts and long graceful tails. Mr. Blackbill wears red spectacles and Mr. Yellowbill wears a ladder of white blotches on his long tail. Both families build nests of their own and bring up their children with tender care.

The New World cousins are better looking than the speckled brown European cuckoo. And, of course, they are much better parents. However, the Old World bird has the most beautiful voice. His song is imitated b y every cuckoo clock, but you can hear a more accurate imitation of his sweet notes in Beethoven's Pastoral Symphony.

Our New World cuckoos mournful, rather scratchy song earned him the name of rain crow, though he i s not related t o the crow. For some re a son, he seems to prefer the damp cloudy days of summer. This is when he has most to say.

You may hear his sad song in the woods and thickets when most other bird are quiet, Kluk kluk, kluk kluk, kluk kluk, kow, kow, kow, is what he says. The weather may look like rain and it may even shower. But naturally the rain crow did not cause these things. He cannot change the weather nor is he a very reliable weather forecaster.

We may not see him on sunny days, but he is there in the woods and the thickets. He is a summer visitor through most of New England, in the warm Southland and up and down the Mississippi Valley. He also summers down the Pacific coast, in Texas and the Gulf States. Some of these regions are very warm and very dry. Yet the rain crow manages to survive and even bring up his family of baby rain crows.

This shy and lovely bird is counted among our wild friends for he feeds on insects and caterpillars. He destroys many of the pesky bugs that feed on our crops and he is one of the few birds that dine on the hairy, leaf eating caterpillars.