30 ALLEN'S NATURALIST'S LIERARY. 



herself takes any interest in the future welfare of the egg si 

 has foisted on her victim, or of its product, there is no 

 dence worth a moment's attention." It is certain that tl 

 young Cuckoos are left to find their way south in the autui 

 entirely by themselves, the old birds having left long befoi 

 and in the British Museum are three birds shot by myself 

 the same day within a quarter of a mile of the same spot, whi< 

 must have been migrating south in company. 



The food of the Cuckoo appears to consist entirely of 

 sects, and it is a true friend of the farmer and gardener, esj 

 cially as it is believed to be the only kind which devours tl 

 larvre of the Tiger-Moth the "Woolly Bear," as it is general! 

 called. Most birds decline to eat this creature, but tl 

 stomach of the Cuckoo has been found completely lined wit 

 the hairs from off this caterpillar's body. 



Nest None; the bird being parasitic. 

 Eggs. Variable to an extraordinary degree, as describe 

 above. 



THE AMERICAN CUCKOOS. GENUS COCCYZUS. 



Coccyzus, Vieill. Analyse, p. 28 (1816). 



Type, C. americanus (L.). 



The American Cuckoos have much the same form as the 

 ordinary True Cuckoos of the Old World, but are rather plainer 

 in colour, without bars on the under surface of the body, and 

 have the nostril oval in shape. They also make nests, and are 

 not parasitic, as far as is known. 



Two species have wandered to Europe, but they can only be 

 regarded as occasional visitors, of accidental occurrence. 



The members of the genus Coccyzus occur throughout the 

 greater part of the New World, visiting the temperate regions 

 of North America in summer, and occurring throughout tro- 

 pical America as far south as the Argentine Republic, but not 

 visiting the extreme south of the South American continent. 



I. THE YELLOW-BILLED CUCKOO. COCCYZUS AMERICANUS. 



Cuculus americanus, Linn. S. N. i. p. 170 (1766). 



