154 



AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY. 



YELLOW-BILLED CUCKOO. 



_/I. O. \/.^fo.387. {Coccy^uj A.mericanujJ 



RANGE. 



Southeastern Canada and the United States from Dakota, hidian Ter. 

 and Texas eastwards; also in the West Indies. They arrive in the north 

 about the first week in May and leave for their winter quarters in Mexico 

 and Central America soon after September. 



DESCRIPTION. 



Length, 12 in.; extent, 16 in.; tail, about 6 in. Eye and feet brown. 

 Upper mandible, black; lower a bright yellow. 



Above glossy brownish gray. The central tail feathers the same color 

 as the back. The remainder black with white tips. The inner webs of 

 the primaries are a bright reddish brown. Entire under parts white. It 

 perches with two toes in front and two behind. 



NEST AND EGGS. 



The Cuckoo builds the most shabby looking of nests. It is like a 

 Green Heron's nest on a small scale, with the addition of a few blossoms 

 or catkins. It is placed in most any position not high from the ground. 

 I think that the greater number of them prefer a thick tangled mass of 

 briars or a thorn bush to a more open site. The eggs are laid about the 

 latter part of May and the bird commences to incubate them as soon as 

 the first is laid, so that it is not unusual to find both young and eggs at all 

 stages in the nest at the same time. They lay three or four eggs, there 

 generally being an interval of several days between each. They are 

 light blue in color. 



Photo bv J. B. Pardoe. 



