320 



CITIZEN BIRD 



Below white, with a bhie belt across the breast, and the female 

 with a brown belt also. 



A Citizen of North America. 



Belonging to no usefnl guild, but a rather startling, amusing 

 neighbor, who always minds his own business and is an indus- 

 trious fishermau. 



''What was the 

 other bird, avIio 

 cried, ' kuk kuk I ' 

 on the outside of 

 the woods? There, 

 it is calling again ! 

 Tni sure that it is 

 a Wood|)ecker I " 



'' Wrong again 

 — it is a Cuckoo ; 

 the Yellow - billed 

 one, I think, for 

 the voice is louder 

 and harsher than that of his 

 Black-billed brother." 



''What ! a little blue and 



white bird like the one that 



bobs out of mother's carved 



clock at home? Oh, do let 



us try to find it ! But this bird didn't say 



'cuckoo'; it only cackled something like a 



Hen when she is tired of sitting." 



" The clock Cuckoo is an imitation of the merry, 



heedless English bird, who lays her eggs in the wrong 



nests, as our Cowbird does. The Yellow-billed Cuckoo 



is quite different, being long, slender, and graceful, 



Yellow-billed 

 Cuckoo. 



