322 HISTORY OF THE 



weeds, with at times a little grass, are placed in bushes, grape- 

 vines, and on the lower branches of trees, from five to fifteen 

 feet from the ground. The males assist in hatching and rear- 

 ing the young, and are fully as attentive as the females. They 

 are said to occasionally lay eggs in the nests of other birds, but 

 I think such cases exceptional, for they are too devoted parents 

 to leave unless by accident the rearing of their young to 

 others. In this respect they differ from their cousins the Euro- 

 pean Cuckoos, that are polygamous, and exhibit no paternal affec- 

 tion for their young. 



The birds occasionally lay and sit at the same time, and it is 

 not an unusual occurrence to find eggs and young birds of dif- 

 ferent ages in the same nest; but as a rule they lay, and hatch 

 at one sitting, from three to five eggs, 1.25x. 90; light bluish 

 green; in form, rather elliptical. 



Coccyzus erythrophthalmus (WILS.). 



BLACK-BILLED CUCKOO. 

 PLATE XXI. 



A summer resident; not uncommon; but being of a shy and 

 retiring nature, are not often noticed. Arrive the first of May, 

 returning in September; begin laying the last of May. In my 

 Revised Catalogue I entered this bird as rare, as I was only able 

 to report the finding of two nests, one at Paola, the other at 

 Manhattan. Several nests have since been found in the vicinity 

 of Lawrence, Beatrice, and other places in the eastern portion 

 of the State. 



B. 70. E, 388. C. 428. G. 179, 150. U. 388. 



HABITAT. Eastern North America; north to Labrador and 

 Manitoba; west to the Rocky Mountains; south in winter to 

 northern South America. 



SP. CHAR. "Bill entirely black. Upper parts generally of a metallic green- 

 ish olive, ashy towards the base of the bill; beneath pure white, with a brownish 

 yellow tinge on the throat. Inner webs of the quills tinged with cinnamon. 

 Under surface of all the tail feathers hoary ash gray. All, except the central 

 on either side, suffused with darker to the short, bluish white, and not well de- 

 fined tip. A naked red skin round the eye." 



Stretch of 

 Length. wing. Wing. Tail. Tarsus. Bill. 



Male 12.00 16.25 5.40 6.40 .92 .95 



Female.. 11.50 15.80 5.20 6.00 .92 .92 



