OF NEW ENGLAND. 309 
(d). The notes of the Yellow-billed Cuckoo do not differ 
distinctly from those of the Black-billed species, though often 
harsher. 
(B) reRyTHRoprHALMus. Black-billed Cuckoo. 
(A summer-resident of all the Eastern States, but more 
common to the southward.) 
(a). Nearly a foot long. Eye-ring, red. Above, drab or 
“quaker” brown (with bronzy reflections). Beneath, white, 
often slightly tinged. Outer tail-feathers white-tipped (and 
slightly sub-tipped with blackish). 
(b). The nest differs from that of the Yellow-billed Cuckoo 
in being most often built in wet lands, and in being less care- 
lessly constructed ; strips of bark, or leaves, are often added 
to the usual sticks and twigs. It is placed in a bush, low tree, 
or briar, not far from the ground, and here is finished in the 
first week of June. The eggs are darker and greener than 
those of the other species, and are elliptical. They average 
about 1:15 & °87 of an inch. 
(¢). The Black-billed Cuckoos are moderately common sum- 
mer-residents in southern New England, but to the northward 
become rare. They reach Massachusetts in the third week of 
May, and leave it in the earlier part of September. They 
arrive singly or in pairs, and at once announce their arrival by 
their peculiar and characteristic notes. They frequent woods 
and shrubbery, particularly in low grounds or swamps, and visit 
orchards or cultivated lands. They fly rapidly, and often quite 
far, moving their wings with regularity. On alighting in a bush 
or tree (for they seldom alight on the ground), they choose 
a perch sheltered by the foliage, and often move their tail in 
an odd, deliberate manner, as if just about to fly off. They 
are eminently cowards, and rely much upon concealment, but, 
perhaps on this account, they may often be closely approached 
by man. They feed partly upon berries, and also, it is said, 
upon ‘fresh-water shell fish and aquatic larve,’’ but they are 
chiefly insectivorous. ‘They undoubtedly confer great benefits 
upon agriculturists, and are our principal birds to attack and 
