CUCULID^ — THE CUCKOOS. 483 



was the first to include tlie Mangrove Cuckoo among North American birds, 

 speaks of it as an inhabitant chiefly of Cayenne, and as occasionally visit- 

 ing the extreme Southern States. Mr. Audubon, who was the first to meet 

 with the species within the limits of the United States, only obtained speci- 

 mens of it in Florida, near Key West. I have seen a specimen which was 

 given to Mr. John G. Bell as having been procured in Southern Mississippi. 

 Mr. Gosse obtained specimens of this bird in Jamaica, though he had no 

 opportunity of observing its domestic economy. In the month of January 

 the specimens he dissected had eggs in their ovaries as large as duck- 

 shot. Dr. Gundlach gives it as a Cuban bird, but does not mention it as 

 one that breeds on that island. The Newtons met with this species in St. 

 Croix, but appear to have regarded it as not a summer resident, but only in 

 the light of a visitant in the winter. 



Mr. March, referring without doubt to this species, mentions it as a con- 

 stant resident in the island of Jamaica, where it is common in the lowlands 

 during summer. It is said to breed from March to July, building in the 

 low branches of trees or in shrubs. The nest is described as a structure 

 composed of a few dry sticks, so loosely put together that it falls to pieces 

 on any attempt to remove it. Three, rarely four, eggs are laid, wliich are 

 of a glaucous-green color, oval, generally round at both ends, and varying 

 in size from 1.25 inches by .90 to 1.38 inches by 1 inch. 



Of late years no specimens seem to have been obtained in Florida, either 

 by Maynard or by the many other explorers of the Peninsula ; and even 

 if the earlier notices are correct, we may have to consider it as merely a 

 straggler from the Bahamas, like Certhiola hahamensis, Crotophaga ani, Plio- 

 nipara zena, Vireosylvia harbahda, etc. 



Mr. Audubon, who was the only one of our naturalists who met with 

 the nest and eggs, discovered them near Key West. He describes the nest 

 as slightly constructed of dry twigs, and as almost fiat, nearly resembling 

 that of the Yellow-billed Cuckoo. The eggs are the same in number and 

 form as those of that species, but are somewhat larger. It is said to raise 

 two broods in one season, and to feed its young on insects until they are 

 able to provide for themselves. An old bird, caught on its nest, which Mr. 

 Audubon saw confined in a cage, refused all food and soon pined itself to 

 death, — thus evincing, in his opinion, the great affection these birds have for 

 their" own eggs. An egg in the Smithsonian Institution collection, given me 

 by Mr. John G. Bell of New York, is said to have been obtained in Mis- 

 sissippi with the parent bird. Its color has slightly faded, and, except in 

 its greater comparative breadth, it is not distinguishable from the eggs of 

 the Yellow-bill. 



