392 BRITISH BIRDS. 



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motionless as statues for a long time, especially when crying out, or when 

 they have detected a suspicious object. They court the seclusion of the 

 thickest foliage. Their curiosity is not small, and they may be observed 

 to frequently peer down with inquisitive looks through the dense foliage, 

 trying to make out some unusual object." 



The food of the Yellow-billed Cuckoo is composed largely of caterpillars, 

 and on these its young are chiefly fed. It also eats other insects, small 

 shells, soft fruits, and various kinds of berries. 



Unlike our Cuckoo, the Yellow-hilled Cuckoo both builds a nest and 

 hatches and rears its own young. The nest is generally placed in trees 

 and large bushes, often in a fruit-tree, or in a cedar, a crab, or a thorn. 

 It is very carelessly put together, and composed of small sticks loosely 

 mixed with grass, and is almost as slight and flat as the nest of a Pigeon. 

 The eggs are from three to five in number, of a uniform pea-green, and 

 measure from 1*4 to I'l inch in length, and from - 98 to *83 inch in 

 breadth. The shell is somewhat rough in texture, and possesses little or 

 no gloss. A curious fact in the nesting-economy of the Yellow-billed 

 Cuckoo is that the eggs are frequently laid at such intervals that young 

 birds and freshly deposited eggs may be seen in the nest at the same time, 

 the warmth from the young birds assisting in incubating them. Although 

 this species of Cuckoo is not a parasite like so many others of this group 

 of remarkable birds, there seems to be considerable evidence that it 

 occasionally drops an egg into the nests of other birds (Allen, Bull. Nutt. 

 Orn. Club, 1877, p. 110) ; whilst Ridgway states that its eggs have been 

 found in the nest of the Black-billed Cuckoo. It is acknowledged, how- 

 ever, that few birds are so anxious for the safety of their eggs and young 

 as the Yellow-billed Cuckoo. Like the watchful wary Stormcock of our 

 own woods and groves, the male Yellow-billed Cuckoo is ever on the alert 

 to drive away any prowling bird or beast from the vicinity of its nest, and 

 will even flutter along the ground in a seemingly helpless manner to allure 

 the intruder from the presence of its eggs or young. The old birds also 

 seem much attached to each other, and should one be wounded its mate 

 will often show much affection and anxiety for its fate. 



This species often migrates southwards in immense flocks, and has been 

 noticed on the Bermudas in thousands, passing on to its winter-quarters in 

 Central and South America. 



The general colour of the upper parts, including the two centre tail- 

 feathers, is uniform huffish brown, with a greenish metallic gloss ; the re- 

 maining feathers of the tail, which is much graduated, are nearly black, 

 with broad white tips, and the primaries are suffused with buffish chestnut, 

 especially on the inner webs. The underparts are nearly pure white. 

 The upper mandible is nearly black, yellow at the base, and the under 

 mandible is yellow, nearly black at the tip ; legs, feet, and claws slate- 



