AVES-CUCKOO... TOUCAN. 543 



country it retires, or whether it has been ever seen on its journey, are ques- 

 tions that we are wholly incapable of resolving. 



Of this bird there are many kinds in various parts of the world, not only 

 differing in their colors but their size. Latham make no less than forty 

 species. There is a large spotted cuckoo in the south of Spain ; and at the 

 Cape of Good Hope there is a black-crested species. Only the common and 

 spotted cuckoo have been seen in Europe. 



THE AMERICAN CUCKOO 1 



Is sometimes called the cow-bird, from its note ; and it is also called '.n 

 Virginia, the rain crow, from being most clamorous just before rain. A 

 traveller in our woods, in May or June, will sometimes hear, as he traverses 

 the borders of deep, retired, high timbered hollows, an uncouth guttural 

 sound or note, resembling the words kowe, Jcowe, koive, kowe, koive, beginning 

 slowly, but ending so rapidly that the notes seem to run into each other, 

 and vice versa. He will hear this frequently, without being able to discover 

 the bird or animal from which it proceeds ; as this bird is shy and solitary, 

 seeking always the thickest foliage for concealment. It breeds all over the 

 United States, from Boston to the Mississippi, preferring the borders of soli- 

 tary swamps and apple orchards. The nest is usually fixed in an apple tree, 

 and sometimes on a thorn in the woods. It is almost flat, and composed of 

 twigs and weeds. When you approach the nest, the female throws herself 

 on the ground, and feigns lameness to draw you off. They feed on caterpil- 

 lars and insects. They are accused also of sucking the eggs of other birds, 

 and sometimes eat berries. 



This bird is thirteen inches long; the whole upper parts are drab, orquaker 

 ?olor, with greenish reflections. The under parts are pure white. The bill 

 is yellow, and the legs and feet light blue. 



THE TOUCAN. 



Of this extraordinary bird there are about fifteen species. We shall only 

 describe the red-beaked toucan. 2 It is about the size of, and shaped like 

 a jackdaw, with a large head to support its monstrous bill ; this bill, from 



1 Cuculus Carolinensls, Wilson. 



2 Ramphastos toco, Lath. The genus Ramphastos has the bill cellular, thin, transpa- 

 rent, broader than the head at the base, convex above, serrated at the edges, and a little 

 incurvated at the tip ; nostrils vertical, concealed behind the corneous maw, surrounded 

 by a membrane ; tarsus as long as the external toe ; the two anterior toes united at the 

 second joint ; tail short. 



