THE YELLOW-BILLED CUCKOO 



Cuckoo Family — Cuculidce 



Length: About 12 inches; tail over 6 inches. 



Male and Female: Brownish-gray above with a greenish tinge; 

 white underneath; reddish-brown wings; feathers 

 brightest on inner web; middle tail feathers brown- 

 ish-gray; outer ones black, broadly tipped with ivhile, 

 tips decreasing in size toward center; lower mandible 

 of bill yellow except at the end. 



Notes: A rapid, guttural utterance of the words cook-cook- 

 cook-cook and cow-cow-cow-cow. Our cuckoos some- 

 times give a cooing note, but do not say cuck'-oo 

 like their European relatives. 



Flight: Swift and difficult to observe, as the cuckoo glides 

 rapidly from bough to bough, under cover if pos- 

 sible. 



Nest: A loosely-constructed platform of sticks. 



Habitat: Orchards, woodlands, park-like estates, and quiet 

 shady streets. Cuckoos are occasionally seen in ex- 

 posed, sunny places. 



Range: Eastern North America. Breeds from southern Can- 

 ada and northern United States as far west as North 

 Dakota and as far south as northern Louisiana and 

 Florida; winters south to Argentina. 



The BLACK-BiLLF.D CUCKOO is similar to the Yellow- 

 bill in general appearance, but has several marked 

 differences. Its upper parts are more greenish; its 

 tail-feathers have smaller white tips; its wings are 

 gray, not reddish-brown; its bill is black, not yel- 

 low; its eye-ring is red. 

 [231] 



