YELLOW-BILLED CUCKOO 61 



In addition to those mentioned above, yellow-billed cuckoos have 

 been known to eat many other insects, such as armyworms, ants, 

 wasps, Hies, and dragonflies. Several of the earlier ornithologists 

 accused this cuckoo of eating the eggs of other small birds and pro- 

 duced some evidence of the bad habit, but some modern observers 

 seem to think that they do very little, if any, nest robbing. C. J. 

 Maynard (1896) writes: 



This species in company with the former [black-billed cuckoo] are the terror 

 of other small birds during the nesting season for they will constantly rob 

 their nests. I have frequently seen a Cuckoo enter a thicket in which a Robin 

 or a Cat Bird had built a home and in a moment the air would resound with 

 the shrill cries of distress given by the parents, causing all the small birds in 

 the immediate vicinity to rush to the spot and as each joins in the outcry, tbe 

 noise produced is apparently enough to frighten away a bolder bird than a 

 Cuckoo. 



But in spite of all this din, the glossy thief nearly always succeeds in accom- 

 plishing his purpose and emerges I'roui the thicket, carrying an egg impaled 

 on his beak. He does not always escape unscathed, however, fur he is pursued 

 by a motley crowd consisting of Robins, Cat Birds, Thrushes, Warblers, etc. 

 that follow him closely, harassing him on all sides, and some of the more 

 courageous will even assault him with blows from their beaks so that he fre- 

 quently leaves some of his feathers floating in the wind behind him. As the 

 long and broad tail of the Cuckoo is a prominent object and as it is also a 

 portion of the bird which its enemies can seize with comparative safety to 

 themselves, this member often suffers in these forays, in so much, that by the 

 middle of summer, it is quite difficult to find a Cuckoo of either species which 

 I'.as a full complement of tail feathers. 



On the other hand. Major Bendire (1895) says: "I am aware that 

 this species has been accused of destroying the eggs and even of eating 

 the young of smaller birds, but I am strongly inclined to believe 

 that this accusation is unjust, and in my opinion requires more sub- 

 stantial confirmation. I have never yet had any reason to suspect 

 their robbing smaller birds' nests, and the very fact that they live m 

 apparent harmony with such neighbors, who do not protest against 

 their presence, as they are in the habit of doing should a Blue Jay, 

 Grackle, or Crow come too close to their nests, seems to confirm this 

 view." 



But then he goes on to quote from a letter from William Brewster, 

 who says : "While I have never seen either of our Cuckoos destroy the 

 eggs of other birds, nevertheless I think they do it occasionally. One 

 of my reasons for this belief is that many of our small birds, 

 Warblers, Sparrows, etc., show great anxiety whenever the Cuckoos 

 approach their nests, and they pursue and peck at them when they 

 take wing, beliaving toward them, in fact, exactly as they do toward 

 the Crows, Jays, and Crackles, which we know eat eggs whenever they 

 can get a chance. My other reason is that one of my friends once 



