CUCULID J^. — THE CUCKOOS. 485 



Domingo and Guiana, and also, on the authority of Mr. Abbott, that it 

 breeds in Georgia as early as the 1st of April. Mr. Audubon says it was 

 never met with by Dr. Bachman in South Carolina. It certainly breeds, 

 however, as far south, at least, as Georgia, as the nest and eggs of this spe- 

 cies were taken at Varnell Station, in the northwestern part of that State, 

 by the late Dr. Alexander Gerhardt. 



It is not mentioned by either Dr. Gambel or Dr. Heermann as among the 

 birds of the Pacific Coast, and it does not appear to have been actually 

 obtained by any of the expeditions to the Pacific beyond the Indian Terri- 

 tory. Its distribution, therefore, during the breeding-season, would seem to 

 be from Georgia to Canada, and from Texas to Minnesota, inclusive of all the 

 intermediate territory. Dr. Newberry frequently saw and heard what he 

 supposed to have been this species, in the trees bordering Cow Creek, near 

 Port Eeading, but as he did not secure a specimen, he may have been mis- 

 taken. It has been taken at Devil's Lake, in Minnesota, and in the Eed 

 Eiver Settlement. 



Wilson describes the nest of this bird as generally built in a cedar, much 

 in the same manner, and of nearly the same materials, as that of the Yellow- 

 bill ; the eggs are smaller than those of that bird, usually four or five in 

 number, and of a deeper greenish-blue. 



Mr. Audubon speaks of the nest as built in places similar to those chosen 

 by the other species, as formed of the same materials, and arranged with quite 

 as little art. He gives the number of eggs as from four to six, of a greenish- 

 blue, nearly equal at both ends, but rather smaller than those of the Yellow- 

 bill, rounder, and of a much deeper tint of green. He gives their measure- 

 ment as 1.50 inches in length and .87 of an inch in breadtli. 



Mr. Nuttall, whose description more nearly corresponds with my own ob- 

 servations, speaks of this species as usually retiring into the woods to breed, 

 being less familiar than the former species, and choosing an evergreen bush 

 or sapling for the site of the nest, which is made of twigs pretty well put 

 together, but still little more than a concave flooring, and lined with moss 

 occasionally, and withered catkins of the hickory. The eggs are described 

 as smaller, and three to five in number, of a bluish-green. The female sits 

 very close on the nest, admitting a near approach before flying. He also 

 speaks of this species as being less timorous than the Yellow-billed, and 

 states that near the nest, with young, he has observed the parent composedly 

 .sit and plume itself for a considerable time without showing any alarm at 

 his presence. 



In all the instances in which I have observed the nest of this species, I 

 have invariably found it in retired damp places, usually near the edges of 

 woods, and built, not in trees, after the manner of the Yellow-billed Cuckoo, 

 but in bushes and in low shrubbery, often not more than two or three feet 

 from the ground. The nest, without being at all remarkable for its finish, 

 or the nicety of its arrangement, is much more artistic and elaborate than 



