150 Birds of Oregoji and WasJiington 



THE CALIFORNIA CUCKOO. 



General Description : 



Upper parts : plain brown. 



Under parts : whitish ; tail, tipped with the same. 



Length, 10.5 inches. 



This species of the Cuckoo is rare in the Wil- 

 lamette Valley and about lower Puget Sound, 

 but is common in British Columbia, and, no 

 doubt, is to be found in parts of northern Wash- 

 ington. I have heard it on the Peninsula, 

 Portland, Oregon, and others report it in the 

 neighborhood. It is an interesting and useful 

 bird and should be recognized and cherished for 

 its association with poetry. (See Wordsworth's 

 " Cuckoo.") 



Ordinarily, the American Cuckoos are con- 

 fused in people's minds with the English species 

 of the bird, as having the latter's base habit of 

 depositing its eggs in other birds' nests for incu- 

 bation and giving to others the rearing of its 

 young. Our Cuckoos are not only not guilty of 

 that, but they are among the most useful of our 

 insect-eating birds, being especially destructive 

 of the tent-caterpillar. 



No detailed description of the bird is neces- 



