436 CUCKOOS. 



This Cuckoo occurs throughout this Faunal Province north to 

 New Brunswick, its breeding area extending south to Florida. 

 Nuttall has not mentioned one pecuhar habit of this bird, — that of 

 laying eggs at such long intervals that young in very different stages 

 of maturity are frequently found in the same nest, as also yofmg 

 birds and partially incubated eggs. The practice of laying its eggs 

 in the nests of other birds is seldom indulged in, — indeed, the 

 known instances are extremely rare. 



BLACK-BILLED CUCKOO. 



RAIN CROW. 

 COCCYZUS ERYTHROPHTHALMUS. 



Char. Above, olive brown with a slight metallic gloss, tinged with 

 ash toward the bill ; wings slightly tinged with rufous ; tail similar to 

 back, outer feathers slightly tinged with gray, narrowly tipped with white. 

 Beneath, white, tinged on the throat with pale buff. Bill black. Length 

 about 12 inches. 



Nest. On the edge of a swampy wood, usually in a retired situation 

 placed generally in a low bush; made of twigs, strips of bark, moss, and 

 catkins. Similar to the nest of the Yellow-billed, but somewhat firmer 

 and more artistic. 



Eggs. 2-6 (usually 4) ; deep glaucous green ; i.io X 0.80. 



This species, so nearly related to the preceding, is also 

 equally common throughout the United States in summer, and 

 extends its migrations about as far as the line of Nova Scotia 

 or Newfoundland. This kind also exists in the island of St. 

 Domingo and Guiana, and the birds which visit us probably 

 retire to pass the winter in the nearest parts of tropical 

 America. They arrive in Massachusetts later than the Yellow- 

 billed Cuckoo, and the first brood are hatched here about the 

 4th of June. In Georgia they begin to lay towards the close 

 of April. Their food, like that of the preceding species, also 

 consists of hairy caterpillars, beetles, and other insects, and 

 even minute shell- fish. They also, like many birds of other 

 orders, swallow gravel to assist digestion. 



They usually retire into the woods to breed, being less 

 familiar than the former, choosing an evergreen bush or sap- 

 ling for the site of the nest, which is made of twigs pretty well 



