NESTS AND I 



This bird is kn veral names, such as Rain Crow, Rain Dove and Chow- 



chow, which are likewise applied to the Black-billed species. Wherever woods uid 

 undergrowth abound in Eastern United States the Yellow-billed Cuckoo may In- 

 seen in the breeding season. Its peculiar, resounding notes resembling the syllables 

 * ,.,k -, are probably uttered more frequently just before falling weather- 



hence the name, Rain Crow. Being somewhat nocturnal in their habits, the notes 

 of both our Cuckoos are often heard at night. The nesi will usually be found in a 

 low tree or bush, sometimes it is placed in a brier patca close to the ground. Thick- 

 ets along the streams or upon islands are favorite nesting places. The usual distance 

 of the nest from the ground is between five and ten feet. It is a slight structure of 

 slender, dried sticks, sometimes twelve to fifteen inches long, but generally much 

 shorter, bark-strips and catkins making up the fabric. Although near relatives of 

 the notorious Cuckoo of Europe, which, like our Cowbird, lays its egc-s in the nest 

 of other birds, our Cuckoos generally respect the marriage tie, and are not alto- 

 gether deserving of the stigma of the family name of Cuckoos of the Old World, 

 although its eggs are sometimes laid in the nests of the Mourning Dove, Catbird, 

 Cedai x. Cardinal Grosbeak, Robin and others. The eggs are deposited at 



intervals live days, and frequently young are found in the nest wi;h par- 



tially iwui.aitd eggs. Two to four are usually laid. Dr. Howard Jones, in : 

 and Eggs of the Birds of Ohio," says that when incubation does not begin until the 

 complement is completed, as is commonly the case, four eggs, rarely six, make up 

 the set. Mr. Norris has a set of six. The average size of twenty-eight specimens 



7x.8i. Fresh eggs may be found as early as the middle of May, in June, July 

 and even August. Not infrequently are the eggs of the Yellow-billed and Black- 

 billed Cuckoos found In the same nest. The color of the eggs is glaucous-green, of 

 the same tint found in herons' eggs, which fades upon exposure to light, and when 



.ited. this color becomes several shades lighter than that in the fresh specimens, 

 on Jun'L'4.1894.a nest of this species was found by Mr.R.C.Osburn in Licking county, 

 O.. which was placed in an apple tree twenty feet from the ground. It had a lining 

 a quarter of an inch deep, composed wholly of the seeds of the ash tree. The seeds 

 bad been carried at least three hundred yards. 



1387.J CALIFORNIA CUCKOO, rorr//;/,* ,H<-ri<-anu* nrridvntali* Ridgw. 

 Oeog. Dlst. Western United States, north to Oregon, east to New Mexico and 

 h over tablelands of Mexico. 



Rldp :ib'H this western form as larger than ('. iiim-rimmix. with 



proportionately larger and stouter bill.* The nesting and eggs, and the general 

 habits of this geographic race are indistinguishable from those of the Yellow-billed 

 Cuckoo. 



888. BLACK-BILLED CUCKOO, o,, ,//;//> ,ri/ll,rni>l,tlinliiins (Wils.) Geog. 

 h America, north to Labrador and Manitoba, westward to the 

 Rocky Mountains, south In winter to the West Indies and Tropical America. 



.same names are given to this bird as are common to the Yellow-billed 

 nd their general habits are similar. The nests of tin- V-l 



low and Black mble each other closely, and it is not always pos- 



to differentiate the two. Nests of the former are often found which could not 



null Of Nor 



