THE OOLOGIST. 



139 



The Yellow-billed Cuckoo. 



Thtj Yt*llo\\'-bille»l Cuckoo oi- '-Raiii- 

 <H'ow, " as it is more eoiumonly called, 

 bi'ee Is nioi-e extensively in this vicinity 

 than its near relative, the Black-billed. 

 The two l)irds ri'seni')le each othei- very 

 Hiiicli, their only difference l)eing 

 shown by their names. I think the 

 Klack-billed is also somewhat smaller 

 than the yellow-billed. 



The Yellow-billed ("lu-koo is a veiy 

 modest bird and is seldom seen outsiile 

 the thicket wlierc it builds its nest, lays 

 its e<j;gs and liatclies, and rears its 

 youni;-. it docs not confine itself to the 

 forest, liowevcr, for I have frequently 

 observed it in trees surrounding- a 

 human habitation, and know <>f one 

 instance where it built and laid in a 

 ti'ee ai)out ten or twch'c yards fi-om a 

 house. 



Tile plumaiiv of the lu-atl, liink and 

 upper ]>art of the tail, is of a light 

 brown color; tlu' tliroat, breast and 

 lower ])art of the tail being white. 



A pecular feature of this l>ird, pos- 

 sessed also i)y some of tlu; hawks, is that 

 a njw of featlier.s extends along each 

 leg to the foot. 



The nest i< rarel}' ever liuilt very 

 high fi'oni thr gi'ound, but is usually 

 placed in a low tree oi' !)Ush, a })artially 

 dead tree, or one whose lind)s are 

 co\'ci'ed \\\{]i moss, lu'ing chosen in 

 preference to others. Tin- nest is a 

 frail structure, being highly constructed 

 of twigs, dead leaves and moss. 



This liird is very careless in regard to 

 tile numl)cr of eggs it lays. 1 have 

 found nests containing two eggs, which 

 were inculcated, a sign that no moi-e 

 would lie laid, and I iia\c found lu-sts 

 containing six eggs, none of the eggs 

 being exactly the same size. 



Tlu! eggs are sky-ijlue in color, l)eing 

 frequently' defaced by whitisii stains, 

 very dirticult to remove. 



The Yellow-billed Cuckoo is a very 

 fearles.s biril, allowing a pei sou to ap- 



proach (piite near befi)re it for^^akes its 

 nest. It never uttei's a scuind when 

 driven from its eggs or j'oung, but 

 glides quietly off into the forest. And 

 here is where it diff'ers from other 

 birds. Comparatively speaking, but 

 few liirds will abandon their nest to the 

 despoiler < f its contents without a noLsy 

 resistance, wiiicli, Iiowever, isgt-nerally 

 fruitless. 



Till' Cuckoo nearly always sit> on lis 

 nest till the last moment. I have 

 known instanci'S where it was necess- 

 ary to shake the tree before siie would 

 leavi' it. She frequently hovers in the 

 tree wlu-rc her nest is situated for a 

 while, but e\cntuall3' makes off' into the 

 woods, where, at intervals, licr deep, 

 guttui'al notes, api)earing to come 

 fioni deep down in the tiiroat, can be 

 heard. The notes of.tiie Cuckoo differ 

 greatly from tiie slirill calls of its feath- 

 eri'd kindi'ed, and is considered Ijy 

 maiiv to be a sun; sign of rain. This 

 bird coiisc([uently being generally cal- 

 led Rain Crow insteail of Cuckoo. 

 E. Caul Litsev, 

 Marion Co., Kv. 



Nesting of the Green Heron. 



Th.c (ircen Heron {nnka ciresctns) 

 wliicii prol)ably has as great a variety 

 of names as any bird in the United 

 States, (among whii-li it will l)e re- 

 cognizetl by such as Shite-poke, Indian 

 Hen, Marsh Ht-n,) anu, in fact, liaving 

 a different name in evciy country vil- 

 lage whei'e there is a t-reek; is supposed 

 i>y many jicrsons to iiuild it- uest in 

 dense swamps or over water; but from 

 what experience I've had, I come to the 

 conclusion that it j>refers hilly land 

 well away fi-om the water. 



It breeds (juite sparingly in the Dis- 

 trict of Columbia, Imt I had the good 

 luck to take three stjts this season here. 

 Tile tirst nest, taken on May Ttii, v/as 

 composed (jf coarse <jak twigs, very 

 frailly \n\X together, placed in the iiij 



