556 ZYGODACTYLI. 



on the 15th of June (1830), I saw a Robin's nest with 

 2 eggs in it, indented and penetrated by the bill of a bird, 

 and the egg of a Cuckoo deposited in the same nest. 

 Both birds forsook the premises, so that the object of this 

 forcible entry was not ascertained ; though the mere ap- 

 propriation of the nest would seem to have been the in- 

 tention of the Cuckoo. 



This species is about 12 inches long; and 16 in alar extent. Above 

 dark greyish-brown vv'ith greenish and yellowish silky reflections. Tail 

 long, the 2 middle feathers of the color of the back ; the others dusky 

 gradually shortening to the outer ones, with large white tips ; the 

 two outer scarcely half the length of the middle ones. Below white ; 

 the feathers of the thighs large, and hiding the knees as in the 

 Hawks. Legs and feet pale greyish-blue. Iris hazel, eyelids yel- 

 low or black. Lower part of the upper mandible also yellow. Inner 

 coat of the stomach villous. — In the female, which is larger, the 4 

 middle tail-feathers are without white spots. 



ST. DOMINGO CUCKOO. 



(Coccyzus dominicus, Nobis. Cuculus dominicus , LiJN . Black-billed 

 Cuckoo. C. erythrophthalmus, Wilson, iv. p. 16. pi. 28. fig. 2. 

 Audubon, pi. 32. Orn. i. p. 170. Phil. Museum, No. 1854.) 



Sp. Charact. — Dark greyish-brown with faint bronzy reflections; 

 beneath white, inclining to cinereous on the throat and breast ; 

 inner vanes of the primaries partly yellowish- white ; bill black ; 

 a naked red space round the eye. 



This species, so nearly related to the preceding, is also 

 equally common, throughout the United States in sum- 

 mer, and extends its migrations about as far as the line of 

 New Hampshire. This kind also exists in the island of 

 St. Domingo and Guiana, and those who visit us probably 

 retire to pass the winter in the nearest parts of tropical 

 America. They arrive in Massachusetts later than the 

 Yellow-billed Cuckoo, and the first brood are hatched 

 here about the 4th of June. In Georgia they begin to lay 

 towards the close of April. Their food, like that of the pre- 



