120 Sketches of Some Common Birds. 



event had revealed a depth of maternal devotion I bad 

 not suspected to exist. When I released him the young- 

 ster glided away over her head and the parent darted 

 after him, now soothing him with the same guttural call, 

 doubtless full of meaning to his youthful ear. 



The highly beneficial character of the cuckoos in their 

 economical relations has been clearly demonstrated. An 

 examination of the food of a black-billed cuckoo by Prof. 

 S. A. Forbes revealed the fact that three-fourths of its 

 rations consisted of cankerworms, and an additional twenty 

 per cent, was made up of other caterpillars. I once 

 startled a yellow-billed cuckoo from the ground at the 

 base of a low ornamental hedge along the sidewalk in the 

 resident portion of my native village. The bird flew up 

 from the space between the walk and the hedge, just at 

 my side. As it fluttered over the walk and alighted in 

 the road about twenty feet from me, I saw the silvery 

 gleaming, gray abdomen of an insect, which the bird held 

 in its bill and which I easily identified as a harvest-fly, 

 when the cuckoo turned its head to watch my movements. 

 At that moment several chickens ran up to take the bug 

 from the bird, whereupon the latter flew away with its 

 prey, and this time it passed out of my sight among the 

 trees in a neighboring yard. 



It is a well-known fact that the cuckoos prey on vari- 

 ous species of large hairy caterpillars which few birds will 

 touch. Insects, however, do not comprise their entire bill 

 of fare. The yellow-billed cuckoo is noted as feeding on 

 black and white mulberries (see Eeport of the Secretary 

 of Agriculture, 1890, page 285), and it may doubtless be 

 found to feed upon other similar fruits. Its habits in 

 gardens and orcbards should be carefully watched that 

 reliable data may be obtained concerning this jioint. 



