94 



British Birds. 



The Black-Billed Cuckoo. 



The Yellow-Billed Cuckoo. 



times four Cuckoo's 

 eggs being found 

 with si.\ of the eggs 

 of the last named 

 bird. Lord Lilford 

 even gives an in- 

 stance of his meet- 

 ing with a nest 

 which contained 

 eight eggs of the 

 Great Spotted 

 Cuckoo and five of 

 a Magpie. 



This species is 

 easily recognised b\' 

 its pointed crest, grey colour and buffy throat and neck, as well as by the white- 

 tipped quills and upper tail-coverts. The young bird for the most part has the quills 

 chestnut, the forehead blackish, and tlie throat more rufous. 



The two American species which have visited Europe at 

 rare intervals are much plainer in colour than our own birds 

 and have no bars on the plumage, which is of an olive brown 

 colour. They both make nests of their own and lay green or 

 bluish eggs. In the bringing-up of the young they are said 

 to be most affectionate, and differ in this trait entirely from their European 

 representatives. 



The Yellow-billed Cuckoo is distinguished by the orange-yellow colour of the 

 lower mandible. It has been met with in Belgium and in Italy, and has occurred 

 twice in Ireland, once in Wales, and once on Lund\- Island. Its home is in Eastern 

 North America, and it also breeds in the West Indies. 



This species and C. aiiiericainis may be recognised by the 

 white tips of the tail-feathers, preceded by a sub-terminal 

 band of black, but the Black-billed Cuckoo is further distin- 

 guished by the absence of the chestnut lining to the quills. 

 It is an inhabitant of North America, and has been once 

 observed in Ireland, near Belfast. A specimen has also 

 been captured in Ital_\-, near Lucca. 



THE 

 YELLOW-BILLED 



CUCKOO. 

 {Coccyziis nniei'iinnus.) 



THE 



BLACK-BILLED 



CUCKOO. 



{CoccyzHS 

 erytlirophtlinlmus.) 



