COCCYGUS AMERICANUS : YELLOW-BILLED CUCKOO. 



67 



YELLOW-BILLED CUCKOO. 



CoCCYGUS AMERICANUS {L.) Bd. 



Chars. Upper parts as in foregoing species ; under parts milk- 

 white ; middle tail-feathers like the back in color, the rest black, 

 with large white tips ; wings extensively rufous ; under mandible 

 and edge of upper mandible yellow. Size of the last, or slightly 

 larger. 



The traits and habits of the Yellow-billed Cuckoo are 

 those of the species just described, but the bird is much 

 less numerous 

 in New Eng- 

 land, and decid- 

 edly more south- 

 ern. It really 

 belongs to the 

 Carolinian Fau- 

 na, though over- 

 lapping the next 

 one, and even 

 appearing at 



times in the fig. s. — yellow-billed cuckoo. 



Canadian. It is rather more of a woodland bird, keep- 

 ing more in higher forests, and usually nesting at a 

 greater altitude. Out of the immediate valley of the 

 Connecticut it is somewhat irregular in its appear- 

 ance, quite common some years in particular localities, 

 and again hardly to be found. Mr. Merriam calls it a 

 common summer resident in Connecticut. Mr. Minot 

 says that it has evidently become less numerous near 

 Boston than it once was, and is now considered rare in 

 many if not all parts of New England. Mr. Allen speaks 



