308 LAND-BIRDS AND GAME-BIRDS 



built about the first of June ; " built," however, is not a term 

 invariablj^ applicable to this nest, as I have known it to con- 

 sist of a cotton-rag, which was firmly caught in the thorns of a 

 barberry -bush. The eggs, which in man}"- cases are laid at ir- 

 regular intervals, average 1-25 X '87 of an inch, and are light 

 greenish-blue, but rarely or never elliptical. 



Fig. 17. Yellow-billed Cuckoo (^). 



(c). The Yellow-billed Cuckoos have evidently become very 

 much less common near Boston than they once were, and are 

 now considered rare in many if not all parts of Isew England. 

 In general habits they are closely allied to the more common 

 Black-billed Cuckoos, whose habits will be full}' detailed in the 

 next biography. They differ chiefly in having a rather less 

 i-apid flight, a greater fondness for high, dry, and wooded 

 lands, and a somewhat different diet. Their habit of laying 

 eggs at intervals of several days, also observable in the other 

 species, is enough to distinguish them from nearly all our other 

 land-birds. It is not rare to find their nest containing both 

 young and eggs at very different stages of development. I 

 once found a Robin's nest in the same condition, but such a 

 case was wholly exceptional. The female Cuckoo, when ap- 

 proached while on her nest, usually sits bravely, but finally 

 throws herself upon the ground, and flutters awa}', uttering 

 piteous and uncouth sounds, which can hardly fail to distract 

 the attention of an egg-hunter ; but this device rarely succeeds, 

 since it is resorted to too late. 



