134 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM 



Cuckoo lays her eggs in nests of the next species or of the Robin and Cat- 

 bird, thus showing some slight approximation to the notorious habit of 

 the European cuckoo. The eggs are elliptical in shape, pale bluish green 

 in color, and average about 1.20 by .90 inches in size. Frequently nests 

 are found containing at the same time young birds, partially incubated 

 eggs and perfectly fresh ones. 



Coccyzus erythrophthalmus (Wilson) _ 



Black-billed Cuckoo 



Plate 58 



Cuculus erythrophthalmus Wilson. Amer. Orn. 1811. 4:16. pi. 28, 



fig. 2 

 Coccyzus erythrophthalmus DeKay. Zool. N. Y. 1844. pt 2, p. 195, 



fig- 31 



A. O. U. Check List. Ed. 3. 1910. p. 182. 

 No. 388 

 erythrophthalmus, Gr., 'epjuSpd?, red, o?0a/.(xo^, eye, referring to the red eyelids (the 

 eye itself, however, is not red) 



Description. Upper parts soft grayish brown tinged with bronzy 

 or greenish; under parts white, somewhat tinged with buffy on throat; tail 

 feathers narrowly tipped with white, and with a narrow subterminal 

 blackish space; bill black, blujsh at base of lower mandible; eyelids red; 

 iris dark brown; feet leaden bluish. 



This species is readily distinguished from the preceding by the color 

 of the bill, wings and tail, both the latter being of the prevailing color of 

 the upper parts. 



Length 11. 5-12. 7 inches; extent 16-17. 5; wing 5.2-5.7; tail 6.25-7; 

 bill .97. 



Distribution. The Black-billed cuckoo is a fairly common summer 

 resident of New York, and is generally distributed except in the colder 

 portions of the State (Canadian zone), which it does not penetrate, but 

 is commoner than the preceding species about the borders and in the valleys 

 of the Adirondack district. In western New York also it is slightly 

 commoner than the Yellow-billed cuckoo, but in the Carolinian zone 

 scarcely outnumbers that species. It arrives from the 1st to the 10th of 

 May in the lower Hudson valley, and from the 10th to the 20th in the 



