THE BLACK-BILLED CUCKOO. 



is commonly accused of hard-heartedness. On the contrary, Dr. Brewer 



relates an instance which came under his own observation, where the female 

 having been thoughtlessly killed by a small boy, the male bird took up the 

 incompleted task of incubation, and successfully reared a brood of five birds. 



Mil \C HI. 



I i I ;- 



The American Cuckoos deserve great credit for endeavoring to forsake 

 the ways of Old World species, which are inveterate cuckolds, like our own 

 Cowbirds. There are, however, marked instances of a lapse from virtue. 

 I once caught a Black-billed Cuckoo in a Catbird's nest, sitting closely, and 

 doubtless in the act of oviposition. Their eggs have been found besides 

 in the nest^ of Wood Thrushes and Rollins, to whose eggs their own bear 

 a close resemblance. 



