The Black-Billed Cuckoo 



By Mdiccnt Eno Humason 



iliis aftcriKKMi 1 was leisurely lyiii^ on the couch in my den, listening to the 

 gentle |)urr of a cooling shower, when I heard a guttural voice outside my window, 

 and hastilv arising, I perceived in the ajjple houghs, scarcely three feet helow me, 

 the long, graceful swaying tail of a hird, which seemed to hang on hinges from 

 the leafy bough. 



As my eyes steadily follcjwed the line of his tail, and I c<jnjecture(l where the 

 head might be, my gaze lighted upon a nest of tent-cateri)illars, and the slight 

 wriggling of a grub betrayed the location of a brown head, and a curved black bill. 

 Need I say that the bill was intensely busy? 



A sudden twist, and the black-billed cuckoo was entirely exposed — iiis beau- 

 tiful sleep shoulders ; his rounded wings ; his soft and pale-toned breast. 



He finished his meal with much smacking of bill, then glided silently to an 

 open place in a dying apple tree near by, where he could dry his feathers in the 

 sunlight — for the little shower had stolen away as swiftly as it came. 



To procure a better view of the bird, I entered an upper south balcony, where, 

 selecting a front seat, I watched his performance, by the aid of my opera glasses, 

 with ])rofound enjoyment. 



He was perfectly silhouetted against the pale blue sky — his black bill sharp 

 and severe ; the red line around his eye glistening with bloody fire ; his pearly breast 

 fluffy and full as though he balanced a cotton bale under his chin ; his coat velvety 

 and serene. 



Once he wrapped his two curved wings about his breast as an old lady draws 

 her shawl around her. and shivers a bit, murmuring to herself: " 'Tis cold, 'tis 

 cold" ; and once again he unfolded those exquisite wings of his as a young girl lifts 

 her gown and curtseys low. 



He preened himself, and shook himself, and intermittently sat quiet as a marble 

 dove in an old cemetery, and then, when he was quite dry and smooth again, he 

 stealthily stole to the next apple tree, where he alighted upon a bough, but his siesta 

 was brief, for lo ! he was near a robin's nest, and the father-bird who was guard- 

 ing on a neighboring fence, furiously flew to attack him, with loud and shrieking 

 cries. 



But the cuckoo flitted away like a ghost, and when the robin ceased his angry 

 chatter, all was silent, and the curtain dropped upon one scene, and I wondered 

 what the next would be. 



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