The Black-billed Cuckoo at Home 



133 



After a while, the sitting bird deliberately called a few times from the nest — ■ 

 a few of the usual kuk-kuk notes. A few minutes still later, she bent her head 

 under her breast, as if examining the nest contents under her, or, as I thought, 

 looking to the egg she had just laid; next she hopped to one of the shoots 

 beside the nest, then flew to a nearby tree. How eagerly I went forward, only 

 to behold the two callow young, no eggs. It was early morning, somewhat 

 cold and misty; the old bird had simply been brooding her bantlings. 



NEsr A.\n TWO YOUNG OF BLACK-BILLED CUCKOO 



Well, she had called while sitting on her nest, that was somethingl As usual, 

 she was alone during most of my stay, — about two hours on this occasion. 

 As usual, too, she moved from tree to tree, hunting caterpillars, frequently 

 calling, occasionally dressing her feathers, and often sitting on one perch for 

 a minute or two at a time; but her head was seldom at rest for more than 

 a few full seconds at a time and, in consequence, the caterpillars fared ill. 

 Now it was some little chap near the thorny trunk of a locust, and now a big 

 brown fellow discovered on a topmost twig. With one of these brown worms 

 held near the end of her bill, she once spent several minutes within some ten 

 feet of her nest, apparently intent on feeding the young, but there was no 

 hint of the anxious, nervous fidgeting of a bird driven to approach her nest 



