The Yellow-Billed Cuckoo 189 



to Florida, the Gulf coast, and the West India Islands. It ar- 

 rives in the Northern States about the commencement of May, 

 and remains there until the end of September or the first of 

 October. Its breeding range is coextensive with its geographi- 

 cal distribution throughout the United States and the south- 

 ern portions of the Dominion of Canada. Nidification begins 

 shortly after their arrival in the north, ranging from the middle 

 of May to the middle of June. As will be seen by the illustra- 

 tions, the nest is a shabby affair much like that of the Mourn- 

 ing Dove. It is a mere platform of twigs, and built in a bush 

 or tree from five to twenty feet from the ground. Two ob- 

 served at Somerleaze were so flimsy in construction that it 

 seemed impossible for them to hold eggs, and standing under 

 them I could see through them. Occasionally, nests are found 

 that are fairly large and well lined with dry grass, ferns and 

 leaves ; but as a rule, they are shallow and rough in appear- 

 ance. The eggs are greenish blue, and a complement of them 

 consists of two to five, and rarely six or seven. Incubation 

 commences as soon as the first egg is laid, and accordingly we 

 have the strange anomaly of eggs and birdlings occupying the 

 same nest. In rare instances it has been found that the cuckoc 

 deposits its eggs in the nests of other birds, as the Cuckoos of 

 Europe do. The three facts, namely, the skeleton-nest, man- 

 ner of incubation, and occasionally depositing of eggs in nests 

 of other birds, are adduced by some ornithologists as evidence 

 of the fact that an evolution is taking place in our cuckoo, and 

 that it is losing the pernicious habit of its European cousin and 

 taking on the habit of providing a nest for itself and caring 

 for its young. 



I have witnessed the motherly care and distress of one of 

 these birds. One Sunday afternoon at Somerleaze, about the 

 middle of July, 1901, I discovered, by a call of the bird that she 

 had built her nest in a cedar tree, standing twelve feet from 

 the corner of the veranda. This surprised me, for the cuckoos 

 are regarded as shy birds ; and I had not known that the fe- 

 male ever made calls from the nest. During the remainder of 

 her brooding she often uttered the calls. While brooding, the 

 bird kept a close eye upon every movement of ours and such 

 beautiful eyes she did have ! Subsequently I discovered there 



