THE WOODPECKERS, KINGFISHERS, AND CUCKOOS. 193 





the rightful occupants from the nest. This picture is due to 

 the influence of the European cuckoo upon our literature, and 

 it by no means portrays the domestic habits of the American 

 species, of which we have two, the Yellow-billed and the 

 Black-billed, the latter having the more northerly range. 



Both of these cuckoos are shy and secluded in habits, oc- 

 curring mostly in woods and underbrush along streams, but 

 often visiting orchards and groves. They now appear to be 

 more worthy, since their food habits have been investigated, 

 than they were formerly held. It is a well-known fact that 

 the common birds 

 of the orchard, par- 

 ticularly the robin, 

 expostulate loudly, 

 and freq u e n t ly 

 show fight, when a 

 cuckoo comes on 

 the scene. From 

 this it might be 

 inferred that the 

 cuckoo is an enemy. 

 Some of the older 

 writers on ornithol- 

 ogy ascribe to it the 

 habit of invading 

 birds' nests. If such a habit exists, it is an exception, and not 

 a rule. Both species feed upon practically the same matter. 



Fruit is seldom eaten. Of one hundred and fifty-five 

 stomachs of cuckoos taken between May and October, inclu- 

 sive, by the Biological Survey, only one contained berries. 

 Nearly half of the food consisted of different kinds of cater- 

 pillars, mainly hairy ones. 



During May and June, when tent caterpillars (Clisiocampa 

 americana) are stripping orchards of everything green and 

 leaving on the bare branches their unsightly nests, they form 



13 



YELLOW-BILLED CUCKOO. 

 (After Biological Survey.) 



