TWO ODD FELLOWS 321 



and a very patient parent — even though the nest she 

 builds is rather a poor thing, made of a few twigs 

 piled so loosely in a bush that tlie pale-green eggs 

 sometimes drop out. 



" Let us go over to the brush hedge where the bird 

 seemed to be. Hush ! there he sits upon the limb of 

 a maple. No — look a little higher up. He is per- 

 fectly still, and acts as if he Avas half asleep. See 

 what a . powerful bill he has ! With that he tears 

 away the ugly webs of tent-caterpillars from the fruit 

 trees, and sometimes eats more than forty caterpillars 

 without stopping — he is so fond of them. Look at 

 him through the glass, and see if the following de- 

 scription fits him." 



The Yellow-billed Cuckoo 



Length about twelve inches. 



Upper parts olive-gray or Quaker color all over, smooth and 

 shiny ; wings tinged with bright cinnamon, and most of the tail- 

 feathers black, with large white spots at the ends. 



Under parts pure white. Under half of bill yellow. 



A Summer Citizen of temperate North America west to the 

 plains. Travels south for the winter to the West Indies and 

 South America. 



A very valuable neighbor, and an officer of high rank in the 

 guild of Tree Trappers. 



His brother — the Black-billed Cuckoo — is very much like 

 him, except that the tail is not black, its spots are smaller, and 

 he has no yellow on the bill, but a red ring round the eye. 



" Kuk-kuk-kuk — conk — co-uk — co-uk ! " cried the 

 bird, as he spread his wings and sailed off, giving the 

 children a fine chance to see his long, rounded, black 

 tail with the white spots. 



