» 
86 ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY. 
seems to delight in the more retired and wooded locali- 
ties. 
In flight, the Black-billed Cuckoo is more swift than the 
other ; in breeding habits, the same; and its food is similar, 
consisting principally of insects and their larve, small fruits, 
and the eggs and young of small birds. Like the other, the 
Black-billed Cuckoo is very cowardly, and is quickly driven 
from the neighborhood of the nest of almost any of the 
other birds. Ifa robin, or other bird of equal size, discover 
one of these, to him pirates, in the vicinity of his nest, he 
immediately assaults the intruder, with loud outcries, poun- 
cing upon him, and pecking with great ferocity. Others of 
his neighbors, who are near, join in the attack: the Cuckoo, 
in retreating, dives into the recesses of a stone wall, or the © 
first secure retreat available; very seldom taking to his 
wings, as another bird would do. I have known of a cuckoo 
being driven into a barn by a Blue-bird GS. sialis), who sat 
perching on a fence outside for several minutes, keeping his 
enemy prisoner; and the latter, when pursued and captured 
by myself, preferred being my prisoner to facing his enemy 
outside. 
The nest of the Black-billed Cuckoo is usually placed in 
a low tree or barberry-bush. It is constructed of twigs, 
roots, and sometimes a few leaves and moss. I have exam- 
ined a great number of these, from different sections; and I 
have noticed that those from northern localities were inva- 
riably lined with gray moss, called Spanish moss, and leaves, 
while others, from more southern districts, were without 
such linings. 
The eggs are usually four in number: they are of a darker 
ereenish-blue than those of the other bird, and average a 
little smaller; their length varying from 1 to 1.12 inch, by 
from .84 to .92 inch in breadth. 
