PICARIAE— CUCULIDAE— GEOCOCCYX CALIFORNIANUS. 



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though I have never seen it engaged in searching for food elsewhere 

 than on the ground, which seems to be its natui-al resort. The name of 

 Ground Cuckoo is certainly an appropriate one. 



It appears to be generally very silent, nor have I ever heard any notes 

 which I was able to trace with certainty to tliis bird. Yet on quite a num- 

 ber of occasions I have heard a succession of sharp whistling syllables, run- 

 ning into a sort of chuckling note, which I was tolerably confident proceeded 

 from this som'ce. Once, indeed, I was within a dozen yards of one, as it 

 stood on a low mesquite sunning itself, while it seemed to express its satisfac- 

 tion by thus communing with itself in low whistling tones. As it was 

 turned away from me, I endeavored to place myself in a more favorable 

 position ; but the noise alarmed it, and dropping down it was immediately 

 out of sight, the sounds ceasing with its departure. 



The. only nest I ever found was placed a few feet from the ground, in a 

 labyrinth of grape vines, which, running up a tree, formed an almost im- 

 penetrable retreat, favorable ahke to the complete concealment of the nest, 

 and its shelter from the hot sun. It was a rather rude circular structure, 

 more than a foot in diameter, with a foundation of coarse sticks, while the 

 interior, or nest proper, was a thick compact mass of coarse twigs and weed 

 stalks, with much of the dirt left clinging to their roots, the whole making 

 an extremely solid, substantial structure, very different from the careless 

 platform of loose twigs which marks the usual architectural efforts of the 

 typical cuckoos. The whole is slightly hollowed, to the depth perhaps of 

 an inch and a half, and has an internal diameter of five inches. This 

 nest was found July 31 ; it contained two young just hatched, while a few 

 hom-s more would have seen the appearance of three more young, the shell 

 of one of the three eggs being already chipped, and the bill of the imprisoned 

 chick visible at the aperture. The eggs are pure white, in shape a rounded 

 oval, and measure about 1.62 by 1.27. 



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