CATALOGUE OF CANADIAN BIRDS. 2QI1 
BREEDING Notes.—Occasionally met with along the St. Law- 
rence, and as far north as the county of Renfrew, Ontario. This 
bird is readily distinguished from the black-billed cuckoo by its 
larger size and the amount of white it shows in the outer tail 
feathers as it flies along. There are other peculiarities which dis- 
tinguish it from the next species. I have found it to breed in the 
county of Leeds at least a week or ten days earlier. Its nest 
also is further from the ground and very loosely put together. 
I have found its nest five times. The last two near Lansdowne, 
Ont., May 29th, 1898, and May 23rd, 1899. Each contained three 
eggs, incubation advanced. They are plainly larger and paler 
than eggs of the black-billed. A nest I found in May, 1888, near 
Renfrew, Ont., contained one egg. This nest was placed ina 
willow. (Rev. C./. Young.) Twenty years ago this species was 
rather rare, but now it is more common than the black-billed and 
the latter is less so than formerly. It is rarer in the Bruce penin- 
«sula where I have seen it but twice. It does not appear to lay more 
than four eggs in the largest set, while the black-billed sometimes 
_ has as many as six. (W. &. Saunders.) A summer resident around 
Toronto, Ont., but rather scarce. A pair nest every season a short 
distance from my house at Kew Beach. It is a late breeder, 
seldom having eggs before the middle of July. On July 20th, 
1895, | found a nest containing two eggs at Kew Beach. The 
nest was built in a maple tree twelve feet from the ground. (W. 
Raine.) Nest taken at Ottawa, Ont., composed of twigs, leaves, 
rootlets and catkins, lined with some soft vegetable material. 
Eggs in sets of four to six of a pale greenish colour. (G.R. White.) 
MUSEUM SPECIMENS. 
_ Only one specimen in our museum, purchased with the Holman 
collection in 1885. We have two sets of four eggs each. One 
taken by Dr. James Fletcher at Ottawa and the other in High 
Park, Toronto, by Mr. W. Raine. Nest six feet from the ground 
in a maple, composed of twigs, pine needles, and leaves. 
387¢. California Cuckoo. 
Coccyzus americanus occidentalis Ripew. 1887. 
While being transferred across the Fraser River at Mount Leh- 
man we passed near an island where I heard the unmistakable 
notes of a cuckoo ; I directed the boat to the spot and the bird 
