19G 



CUCKOO. 



slowly, but ending so rapidly that the notes seem to 

 run into each other, and vice versa ; lie will hear this 

 frequently without being able to discover the bird or 

 animal from which it proceeds, as it is both shy and 

 solitary, seeking always the thickest foliage for con- 

 cealment ;" a trait in its character, by the way, closely 

 reminding us of the European cuckoo. " This," con- 

 tinues Wilson, " is the yellow billed cuckoo (Coccyzus], 

 the subject of the present account. From the imita- 

 tive sound of its note, it is known in many parts by 

 the name of the Cow-bird; it is also called in Virginia 

 the Rain-crow, being observed to be most clamorous 

 immediately before rain. 



" This species arrives in Pennsylvania from the south 

 about the 22nd of April, and spreads over the coun- 

 try, as far at least as Lake Ontario ; it is numerous in 

 the Chickasaw and Choctaw nations, and also breeds 

 in the upper parts of Georgia ; preferring in all these 

 places the borders of solitary swamps and apple 

 orchards. It leaves us, on its return southward, about 

 the middle of September." Mr. Audubon adds, that 

 " in their migrations northward they move singly, but 

 when removing again to a warmer latitude they 

 appear to be gregarious, flying high in the air, and in 

 loose flocks." This tends analogically to confirm 

 what we have already advanced concerning the 

 European cuckoo's migration. That species seems 

 also to arrive singly, and to depart southward in 

 small flocks. 



" Early in May," says Wilson, " they begin to pair, 

 when obstinate battles take place among the males. 

 About the 10th of that month they commence build- 

 ing. The nest is usually fixed among the horizontal 

 branches of an apple tree ; sometimes in a solitary 

 thorn, crab, or cedar, in some retired part of the 

 woods. It is constructed with little art, and scarcely 

 any concavity, of small sticks and twigs, intermixed 

 with green weeds, and blossoms of the common maple. 

 On this almost flat bed the eggs, usually three or four 

 in number, are placed ; these are of a uniform green- 

 ish blue colour, and of a size proportionable to that 

 of the bird. While the feirfale is sitting the male is 

 generally not far distant, and gives the alarm, by his 

 notes, when any person is approaching. The female 

 sits so close that you may almost reach her with your 

 hand, and then precipitates herself to the ground, 

 feigning lameness, to draw you away from the spot, 

 fluttering, trailing her wings, and tumbling over, in 

 the manner of the partridge, woodcock, and many 

 other specie*." We cannot but contrast this affec- 

 tionate display of parental feeling with the conduct of 

 the European cuckoo. Some writers, however, as 

 Dr. Darwin and others, even state of that species, 

 that it sometimes builds a nest and rears its own 

 progeny ; but the instances they mention clearly show 

 thai they had mistaken a very different bird, the 

 nightjar, for a cuckoo ; the accounts which they 

 furnish accord entirely with the nidification of that 

 species, which indeed in the nest bears no inconsider- 

 able resemblance to it ; and the writer of this has 

 himself known an instance of a young nightjar being 

 mistaken for a cuckoo. Still it would be interesting, 

 before we entirely divest the European cuckoo of 'all 

 parental affection, to try whether an old caged one 

 would take any notice of a nestling of its own species 

 that was placed along with it ; to see whether it 

 would be moved, like other birds, by its helpless 

 cries, and ever place food into its mouth. We should 

 imagine, however, that it would not. 



" Both parents," continues Wilson, "of the Carolina 

 Coccyzus unite in providing food for the young. This 

 consists, for the most part, of caterpillars, partirulariv 

 such as infest apple trees. The same insects consti- 

 tute the chief part of their own sustenance. They 

 are accused, and with some justice, of sucking the 

 eggs of other birds, like the crow, the blue jay, and 

 other pillagers. They also occasionally eat vuiiuiis 

 kinds of berries. But, from the circumstance of de- 

 stroying such numbers of very noxious larvae, they 

 prove themselves the friends of the farmer, end are 

 highly deserving of his protection. 



" In examining this bird by dissection, the inner 

 membrane of the gizzard, which in many other species 

 is so hard and muscular, in this is extremely lax 

 and soft, capable of great distension ; and, what is 

 remarkable, is covered with a growth of fine down or 

 hair, of a light fawn colour. It is difficult to ascertain 

 the particular purpose which nature intends by this 

 excrescence ; perhaps it may serve to shield the 

 tender parts from the irritating effects produced by 

 the hairs of certain caterpillars, some of which are 

 said to be almost equal to the sting of a nettle." The 

 same has also been said, first probably by some com- 

 piler who had read Wilson's article and who thought 

 he might safely enough infer it from analogy, of the 

 stomach of the European cnckoo, but the writer of 

 this has dissected several, and never observed any 

 thing of the kind. The cuckoo's stomach is, how- 

 ever, lax and membranous, like that of the American 

 bird. 



Black billed Coccyzus(C.erythrophlhalmm'). "This 

 species," according to Wilson, " is nearly as numerous 

 as the former, * * * its peculiar markings, how- 

 ever, and some of its habits, sufficiently characterise 

 it as a distinct species. Its general colour above is 

 nearly that of the former, inclining more to a pale 

 ash on the cheeks and front; it is about an inch less 

 in length ; the tail is of a uniform dark silky drab, 

 except at the tip, where each feather is marked with 

 a spot of white, bordered with a slight touch of dull 

 black ; the bill is wholly black, and much smaller 

 than that of the preceding, and it wants the bright 

 cinnamon on the Avings. But what constitutes its 

 most distinguishing trait is a hare wrinkled skin of a 

 deep red colour, that surrounds the eye," whence the 

 species have, though not very accurately, been named 

 erythropkthalmits, or red-eyed. 



" The black-billed Coccyzus is particularly fond of 

 the sides of creeks, feeding on small shell-fish, snails, 

 &c. I have also found broken pieces of oyster-shell 

 in its gizzard, which, like that of the other, is covered 

 with fine downy hair." Audubon found in the 

 stomach of this bird, in addition to shells and water 

 insects, "a small black frog, which appears after a 

 summer shower." The sustenance, therefore, of this 

 species is rather anomalous, and peculiar for a member 

 of the cuckoo family. 



" Its nest is commonly built in a cedar, much in the 

 same manner and of nearly the same materials as that 

 of the other ; but the eggs are smaller, usually four 

 or five in number, and of a rather deeper greenish 

 blue." 



There is nothing known of the peculiar habits of 

 the other species of this division, so it would be here 

 little interesting to detail their colours and propor- 

 tions. A notice of other birds allied to the cuckoo 

 will be found in the articles LEPTOSOMUS, INDICATOR, 

 and PHOSNICOPTERUS. 



