552 ZYGODACTYLI. 



it has received, in Virginia and other states, the name of 

 Rain-Croiv, and also Koio-Bird. At various seasons, 

 during the continuance of warm weather, the vigil koio 

 kbw kdw kow of the faithful male is uttered for hours, 

 at intervals, throughout the night. The same notes, 

 but delivered in a slower and rather tender strain, are 

 given with great regularity likewise in the day as long 

 as the period of incubation continues. He often stead- 

 fastly watches any approach to the nest, going to it oc- 

 casionally to assure himself that it is unmolested ; and, 

 at times, he may be observed darting even at the dor- 

 mant bat, who accidentally seeks repose beneath the 

 shady leaves of some contiguous tree, so that he is no less 

 vigilant in seeking the security of his own progeny, than 

 in piratically robbing the nests of his neighbours. There 

 are two or three other species in Jamaica and other parts 

 of tropical America, possessing a note very similar to 

 that of our bird, which also frequently approaches, when 

 delivered in the plaintive mood_, koo koo, and koo koo koo, 

 the usual sound of the European Cuckoo. There is a 

 Mexican species (Cuculus ridibundus) which so simu- 

 lates laughter, as to have awakened the superstition of 

 the natives, by whom it is consequently hated as a mes- 

 senger of misfortune, whose accidental note of sardon- 

 ic risibility, is construed into an ominous delight in 

 misery. 



The whole tribe of Cuckoos are in disgrace for the un- 

 natural conduct of the European and some other foreign 

 species, who, making no nests, nor engaging in conjugal 

 cares, parasitically deposit their eggs, one by one, in the 

 nests of other, small birds, to whom the care of rearing 

 the vagrant foundling is uniformly consigned. This 

 whitish and darkly spotted Qgg, so different from that of 

 our dubious species, is supposed to be conveyed into sev- 



