4S0 XOUTII AMERICAN BIRDS. 



tate tlieiuselves to the j^n'onnd, iliitteiiiii,', tuinl»liii^, and feiixninj? lameness, in 

 tlie manner of manv other atleetionate and aittul birds, to (haw the intruder 

 awav iVom tlie vieinitv of the hrood. At sucli times, tlie mother also utters 

 the most niiL'ontli -guttural sounds as slie runs along the ground. While the 

 female is engaged in sitting on her charge, the male takes his station at no 

 great distance, and gives alarm ]»y his notes, on tlie approach of an intruder. 

 When tlie young are liatched, hotli unite in the lal>orof imniding them with 

 food, lie sul)se((uently states that these birds liPtcli several l)roods in a 

 season, which he inferred from the fact of his meeting with a nest contain- 

 inij esTi's as late as the 28th of August. He also s])eaks Ci fimling in one 

 instance an egg of the Cuckoo laid in the nest of a Catbiid, and in another 

 instance (June 15) an k^%*^ in the nest of a Kobin. Such instances must, 

 however, be very rare. No other writer menti(ms any similar instance, and 

 none have ever fallen under my ob.servations. 



^Ir. (Josse, in his Birds of Jamaica, describes the Yellow-bill as among 

 the birds of that i.sland, speaks of it as among the regular visitants in spring, 

 but makes no mention of its breeding there. 



]Mr. Edward Xewton, in his pai)er on the birds of St. Croix (Ibi.s, 1859, 

 p. 140), gives an interesting account of its breeding in that locality. He adds 

 his testimony to the general credit given to this species for the conjugal 

 affection they evince. On one occasion, he says, a male having l)een shot, 

 and shrieking as it fell, the female instantly tiew to the spot, and fluttered 

 along the ground in the manner tliat an old hen Partridge or other bird would 

 do, to lead astray tlie pursuer of her young. On June 2, 1858, he shot a 

 female of this si)ecies, having an egg in her ovary nearly ready for exclusion ; 

 it was (piite soft, but had its proper color. On the 29tli of the same month, 

 while riding, he saw the white terminal spots of a Cuckoo's tail projecting 

 from a small nest on a manchineel that overhung the path. It was built 

 in a very open situation, and the l)ird, as he rode underneath, was not more 

 than a yard above his head. She sat with nearly all her neck and breast out- 

 side the nest, which was only just large enough to contain the eggs. She did not 

 fly otf until after he had tied np the pony hard by, and had almost touched her 

 with his whi}). There were three eggs, laid side by side in a row% «/o«/7 which 

 the bird had l)een sitting. The nest was at some distance from the stem of 

 the tree, and placed loosely on the bough. It was a mere platform of small 

 sticks laid one across another, with a few finer twigs and a little grass as a 

 lining ; so slightly was it put together, that, on attempting to take it from the 

 tree, it fell to pieces. 



No writer besides ^Ir. Audubon makes any mention of, or appears to have 

 been aware of, the peculiar habits of these birds in hatching out their succes- 

 sive depositions of eggs, one by one. In this respect they are eccentric, and 

 do not always exhibit this trait. While I have re})eatedly observed facts 

 exactly corresponding with those noticed by Mr. Audubon in the garden of 

 Mr. Khett, at other times I have found in the opening of the season three or 



