218 Birds of Colorado 



of a Dove and the cackling of a hen, and it also makes 

 a noise by snapping its mandibles. 



The food consists chiefly of large insects, such as 

 grasshoppers and beetles, and also lizards, snakes and 

 young birds. Stories of its killing large rattlesnakes 

 are often told, but these appear to be exaggerated. 



The nest is built in a low bush, as a rule three to eight 

 feet above the ground ; it consists of a flat, shallow and 

 compact mass of sticks, lined generally with dry grass, 

 sometimes with other material such as a few feathers. 

 The number of eggs varies considerably, possibly where 

 twelve have been found they are from two hens. They 

 are ovate, white and unspotted, and measure r54 x 1'18. 

 They are laid at considerable intervals, and incubation 

 commences after the first few are deposited. No details 

 in regard to the nesting of this bird within the State 

 have yet been published. 



Genus COCCYZUS. 



Head not crested ; bill stout at the base, compressed and gently 

 downcurved throughout ; wing pointed, about equal to the tail in 

 length ; tail of ten obtusely-ending, strongly graduated feathers ; 

 legs moderate, tarsus about equal to middle toe. 



Three species are found in the United States. 



Key of the Species. 



A. Lower mandible chiefly yellow ; outer tail-feathers strongly 



tipped with white. 



a. Smaller ; wing 5-5, culmen -93. C. americanus, p. 218. 



b. Larger; wing 5 '8, culmen 1*05. 



C. a. occidentalis, p. 220 



B. Lower mandible black ; outer tail-feathers obscurely white at 



the tip. C. erythropthalmus, p. 220 



Yellow-billed Cuckoo. Coccyzus americanus. 



A.O.U. Checklist no 387 — Colorado Records— Ridgway 79, p. 231 

 Drew 85, p. 17 ; Morrison 89, p. 67 ; Cooke 97, pp. 82, 207 ; Rockwell 

 08, p. 164; Henderson 09, p. 231. (This hst includes records for 

 both subspecies.) 



