370 



Trees, Stars, and Birds 



FIG. 227. Young road-runner. 



has a softer voice than the 

 yellow-billed. Cuckoos are 

 known as " rain crows," 

 because they call princi- 

 pally in damp or cloudy 

 weather. Careful observ- 

 ers believe that they fore- 

 tell the weather. The 

 name " cuckoo " is derived 

 from the note of the European cuckoo, which is imitated 

 by the cuckoo clocks. 



The female European cuckoo, after laying an egg on 

 the ground, takes it in her beak and deposits it in the 

 nest of a smaller bird, giving no further attention to 

 the egg or young. It is a plain-colored bird for the same 

 reason that a female cowbird is plain colored. 



Many other species of cuckoos lay their eggs in other 

 birds' nests, a practice which is shared by some indi- 

 viduals among our American cuckoos. However, our 

 cuckoos usually build a shallow and flimsy nest of small 

 sticks and grass in a tree or vine-covered bush. Their 

 pale greenish-blue eggs are laid at such long intervals 

 that the first may hatch while the last is still fresh. 



In Africa and in the East Indies are many kinds of 

 cuckoos, some of them brilliantly colored. The family 

 includes nearly 200 species. They resemble the wood- 

 peckers in having two toes in front and two behind. 

 Their beaks are curved. Some kinds eat reptiles as 

 well as insects. Our two species eat caterpillars such as 

 the tent caterpillar and web worm, so that they are 

 highly useful, especially in orchards. 



