68 Twelve Months With 



grayish-brown coat, and sulphur-yellow belly, he 

 is easily identified. He always uses snakeskins in 

 his nest, which he builds in a hole in a dead tree, 

 and he usually leaves a piece of it hanging out of 

 the hole for the purpose, as claimed by some 

 authorities, of frightening away his enemies. 



The yellow-billed cuckoo is a common summer 

 resident arriving early in May. It is a long, thin> 

 dove-like bird, brownish gray in color, with a 

 slight greenish gloss, the long tail conspicuously 

 dotted with round white spots. He slips noise- 

 lessly into a tree, and disappears in its leafy depths 

 in an almost ghostly manner, and if you are able to 

 spy him out you will find him sitting absolutely 

 motionless, apparently in a sort of trance, from 

 which he awakes to hop stealthily about in search 

 of caterpillars. His song is strikingly character- 

 istic, and suited to his spirit-like movements, a 

 monotonous and unmusical "k6<w, kow, kow/' or 

 "ko kuk, koo, koo, koo, kuk," which sounds a 

 good deal like two wooden balls being struck to- 

 gether. Although the European Cuckoo's song 

 differs somewhat from ours, Wordsworth's poem 

 "To the Cuckoo" is a beautiful and apt descrip- 

 tion: 



"O blithe New-comer ! I have heard, 

 I hear thee and rejoice. 

 O cuckoo ! shall I call thee Bird, 

 Or but a wandering Voice? 



