Cuckoo WESTERN BIRDS 



J. H. Bov/les says that the nest is rather a frail struc- 

 ture, but much more bulky than that of the eastern 

 species. It is placed from four to ten feet from the 

 ground, usually nearly ten, and is more often built 

 against the trunk of a baby fir. Usually three eggs are 

 laid but sometimes only two, and often a week elapses 

 between the laying of the first and last egg. This slow- 

 ness in depositing the eggs seems, also, to be a habit of the 

 eastern bird, since eggs in all stages of incubation, and 

 even young birds, are found in the nest. Bowles gives 

 the call of the western bird as a harsh krow-krow-krow- 

 krow, and a more plaintive kru-kru, kru-kru. 



The eastern Cuckoos inhabit both woodlands, shade 

 trees, and orchards, seeming not to avoid mankind. In 

 fact, as destroyers of the destructive tent caterpillars 

 they have proved themselves most helpful to the human 

 race. Forbush says of its fondness for hairy species: 

 "No caterpillars are safe from the Cuckoo. It does not 

 matter how hairy or spiny they are, or how well they 

 may be protected by webs. Often the stomach of the 

 Cuckoo will be found lined with a felted mass of cater- 

 pillar hairs, and sometimes its intestines are pierced by 

 the spines of the noxious caterpillars it has swallowed. 

 Wherever caterpillar outbreaks occur there we hear the 

 call of the Cuckoos. There they stay; there they bring 

 their newly-fledged young; and the number of caterpil- 

 lars they eat is incredible." 



The Cuckoo is fond of water and wet places, frequent- 

 ing bushes and low trees along streams. In such shaded 

 places it will most frequently be found, rather than in 

 the open. Its flight is straight and low. A long brown 

 streak flies across the road just before you and disap- 

 pears in the growth at the side, and there is no mistaking 

 it for anything else. 



The birds are not musicians, although throughout the 

 warm days, and even in the night, their rather mournful 

 notes may be heard. So often is their cow-cow-cow 



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