96 THE NESTS AND EGGS OF 



Family CUCULID.^. Genus Coccyzus. 



BLACK-BILLED CUCKOO. 



Coccyzus erythrophthalmus ( Wihoii). 



(British : Very rare abnormal autumn migrant.) 



Single Brooded. Laying season, April, May, and June. 



Breeding area : Eastern Nearctic region. The 

 Black-billed Cuckoo breeds in suitable districts through- 

 out the North American Continent east of the Rocky 

 Mountains, as far north as Labrador, and as far south 

 as Georgia and Texas. 



Breeding habits : The Black-billed Cuckoo reaches 

 its more northerly breeding places in May, but its eggs 

 appear to be laid by that date in the southern districts. 

 It is a shy, seclusion-loving bird, and its favourite haunts 

 are woods and thickets, and the belts of timber on the 

 banks of streams. This Cuckoo is not parasitic, but 

 builds a nest and hatches its eggs in the normal way ; 

 whether it pairs annually or for life appears not to be 

 known. It is not gregarious during the breeding season, 

 but lives in scattered pairs. The nest is usually placed 

 on the flat, horizontal branch of a tree at some height 

 from the ground, or in the centre of a dense bush — a 

 thorn-bearing one being preferred. It is a well-made 

 structure, resembling the coarse architecture of the 

 crows, rather flat and shallow, yet open, and composed 

 externally of coarse and fine twigs and roots, and lir.ed 

 with finer roots and grass. The bird makes little or no 

 demonstration when flushed from the eggs, and soon 

 conceals itself in the surrounding cover. 



Range of egg colouration and measurement: 

 The eggs of the Black-billed Cuckoo are from three to 

 five in number. They are somewhat rough in grain, 



