52 BULLETIN 17 6, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM 



four extremes measure 33.1 by 22.6, 31.4 by 24.3, 27.9 by 22, and 30 

 by 21.6 millimeters. 



Young. — Audubon (1842) says that this cuckoo "raises two broods 

 in the season, and feeds its young on insects until they are able to go 

 abroad." 



Plumages. — I have seen no nestlings of this species, but a fully 

 grown Juvenal, taken in the Bahamas on June 23, has the upper parts 

 everywhere "buffy brown" to "wood brown," including the crown, 

 which in the adult is grayer than the back; there are narrow white 

 tips on the secondaries, tertials, and all the wing coverts; there are 

 still narrower white tips on the primaries, which soon wear away; 

 the black space below and behind the eye, so conspicuous in the 

 adult, is lacking; the central tail feathers are paler grayish brown 

 terminally than in the adult, and the lateral tail feathers are pale 

 "wood brown," instead of black, with whitish, instead of pure white, 

 tips, which are also less clearly defined than in the adult. I have seen 

 young birds in this plumage in July, August, and September. The 

 body plumage is probably molted during the fall, but the juvenal 

 wings and tail are apparently retained until the following spring or 

 summer; I have seen young birds molting wings and tail in Febru- 

 ary, June, and August, thus assuming a fully adult plumage. 



Food. — The food of Maynard's cuckoo consists mainly of cater- 

 pillars, spiders, moths, flies, grasshoppers, and other insects ; probably 

 a few small fruits and wild berries are eaten at times. Mr. Howell 

 (1932) says: "The stomachs of two birds taken at Everglade, Florida, 

 in March, were examined in the Biological Survey; the food in one 

 consisted mainly of hairy caterpillars (Arctiidae), the stomach being 

 well lined with caterpillar spines; the remains of 3 mantids {Stag- 

 momantis) composed the remainder. The other stomach contained 4 

 long-horned grasshoppers, lepidopterous larvae, locustid eggs, man- 

 tids, and spiders." 



Behavior. — Maynard (1896) says of the habits of this cuckoo in 

 the Bahamas : 



They frequent thickets near fields, and often venture into the open grounds to 

 feed, but usually when taken by surprise in such places, quickly I'etreat to the 

 thickets, into which they glide easily. Once within the cover of the shrubbery, 

 their movements are quite deliberate, but when approached, they will jump 

 from branch to branch, and although not appearing to hasten, will manage 

 to elude their pursuer, and become quickly lost in the foliage. 



The flight of this Cuckoo is rapid, the wings being moved quickly, much more 

 so than in the Black or Yellow Billed Cuckoos. They generally move straight 

 forward, without doubling, and when they wish to alight, they do so suddenly 

 without any preliminary lessening of their speed, and as soon as their feet 

 touch the branch the tail is dropped perpendicularly. As a rule, this Cuckoo 

 is rather shy, especially when in open fields, but I once came across one near 

 Mathewstown, Inagua, that was feeding in an old field, that was very tame, 



