YELLOW-BILLED CUCKOO. 
this is horrible ; it has the sound of murder in it ; no cat 
on a back-yard fence can produce a yell as hideous! Mr. 
Chapman says this call ‘‘is a loud piercing scream, one 
of the most blood-curdling sounds I have ever heard in 
the woods,.”? From a creature whose habit it is to be 
out all night hunting, one must expect something grew- 
some. Upon hearing the screech for the first time one’s 
mind instinctively reverts to those lines in Scott’s Lady 
of the Lake: 
** At once there rose so wild a yell 
Within that dark and narrow dell, 
As all the fiends, from heaven that feil, 
Had pealed the banner-cry of hell!” 
Thus far, nobody has ventured to call this note the 
Great Horned Owl’s love song! 
ORDER COCCYGES. CUCKOOS, ETC. 
Family Cuculide. 
There are over one hundred and seventy known species 
of Cuckoo in the New World, and these are mostly 
tropical birds. Our two common Cuckoos, the Yellow- 
billed and the Black-billed, differ from the Old World 
Cuckoo (Cuculus canorus) in their laudable habit of 
hatching their own eggs, and taking care of their young. 
These are the only species in the United States. 
Yellow-billed ©The Yellow-billed Cuckoo scarcely de- 
hcp serves a position with the songsters, for 
Pcp isn eh non his note is almost entirely without pitch. 
L. 12.10 inches His near relative the Black-billed Cuckoo 
May 1oth is by far the better singer ; nevertheless, 
the Yellow-bill’s attempts at rhythm are not without 
merit, for he can give us a ritardanto as perfect as that 
of the Chat. The Cuckoos are slim, long-billed, dove- 
like birds whose general tone of color is brownish lilac, 
or dove-colored light brown with a slight touch of iri- 
descent green above, and a grayish white beneath. The 
sexes in both species of Cuckoo are alike in color. The 
RS 
