OF NEW ENGLAND. 309 



(d). The notes of the Yellow-billed Cuckoo do not differ 

 distinctly from those of the Black-billed species, though often 

 harsher. 



(B) ERYTHROPTHALMUS. Black-billed Cuckoo. 



(A summer-resident of all the Eastern States, but more 

 common to the southward.) 



(a). Nearly a foot long. Eye-ring, red. Above, drab or 

 "quaker" brown (with bronzy reflections). Beneath, white, 

 often slightly tinged. Outer tail-feathers white-tipped (and 

 slightly sub-tipped with blackish). 



(b). The nest differs from that of the Yellow-billed Cuckoo 

 in being most often built in wet lands, and in being less care- 

 lessly constructed ; strips of bark, or leaves, are often added 

 to the usual sticks and twigs. It is placed in a bush, low tree, 

 or briar, not far from the ground, and here is finished in the 

 first week of June. The eggs are darker and greener than 

 those of the other species, and are elliptical. They average 

 about 1-15 X '87 of an inch. 



(c). The Black-billed Cuckoos are moderately common sum- 

 mer-residents in southern New England, but to the northward 

 become rare. They reach Massachusetts in the third week of 

 May, and leave it in the earlier part of September. They 

 arrive singly or in pairs, and at once announce their arrival by 

 their peculiar and characteristic notes. They frequent woods 

 and shrubbery, particularly in low grounds or swamps, and visit 

 orchards or cultivated lands. They fly rapidly, and often quite 

 far, moving their wings with regularity. On alighting in a bush 

 or tree (for they seldom alight on the ground), they choose 

 a perch sheltered by the foliage, and often move their tail in 

 an odd, deliberate manner, as if just about to fly off. They 

 are eminently cowards, and rely much upon concealment, but, 

 perhaps on this account, they ma} r often be closely approached 

 by man. They feed partly upon berries, and also, it is said, 

 upon "fresh-water shell fish and aquatic larvae," but they are 

 chiefly insectivorous. They undoubtedly confer great benefits 

 upon agriculturists, and are our principal birds to attack and 



