C. ERYTHROPHTHALMUS : BLACK-BILLED CUCKOO. 65 



FAMILY CUCULID^E: CUCKOOS. 

 BLACK-BILLED CUCKOO. 



COCCYGUS ERYTHROPHTHALMUS (Wils.) Bd. 



Chars. Upper parts uniform satiny olive-green, or " Quaker-color," 

 with bronzy reflections. Below pure white, or with a slight 

 rusty tinge ; little if any rufous on wings ; lateral tail-feathers not 

 contrasted in color with the middle pair, blackish for a little dis- 

 tance toward the end, then obscurely tipped with whitish ; such 

 coloration of the tail-feathers always sufficing to distinguish 

 the species from C. Americanus, without reference to other char- 

 acters. A bare livid skin around eye ; edges of eyelids red ; 

 bill blackish with little if any trace of yellow. Length, about 

 11.50; extent, 15.50; wing, 5.00-5.50; tail, 6.00-6.50; bill, 

 under i.oo. 



Of the two Cuckoos which inhabit New England, the 

 Black-billed is a much more numerous and characteristic 

 bird than its rather southerly cousin of the yellow beak. 

 It is an abundant summer resident in the woodland of 

 all sections, arriving* about the middle of May, and re- 

 maining through September. But somewhat like C. 

 americanus, it is toward the end of its migratory tether 

 in New England, and therefore less common in the 

 Canadian than in the other two Faunae represented in 

 New England. Excepting for its hard dry voice, sound- 

 ing so strangely that, however often heard, one scarcely 

 becomes accustomed to the wild outcry, it would not be 

 very frequently noticed, with so sly and furtive a man- 

 ner does it wing its swift arrowy course through the 

 foliage, or study concealment in the umbrage. Its habits 



