BLACK-BILLED CUCKOO 131 



familiar, and is written k-kuk, k-kuk, k-kuk. As it is 

 supposed to be a sign of rain, he is commonly called 

 " Rain-crow." 



A Cuckoo was heard in Iowa Circle recently, but 

 that was unusual, for he is a shy bird and seldom 

 ventures into the city, probably only when the trees 

 are full of caterpillars. His favorite food is tent 

 caterpillars, the sort that make their ugly nests in 

 our trees and ruin the foliage, and he is therefore 

 extremely useful. Mr. Chapman tells of shooting a 

 Cuckoo at six o'clock in the morning which had 

 forty-three of these caterpillars in his stomach. 



" Family cares rest lightly on the Cuckoo. The 

 nest of both species is a ram-shackle affair a mere 

 bundle of twigs and sticks without a rim to keep the 

 eggs from rolling from the bush, where they rest, to 

 the ground. The over-worked mother-bird often 

 lays an egg while brooding over its nearly hatched 

 companion, and the two or three half-grown fledg- 

 lings already in the nest may roll the large greenish 

 eggs out upon the ground, while both parents are off 

 hunting for food to quiet their noisy clamorings." 

 (Neltje Blanchan.) In this part of the country the 

 Cuckoo more often nests in trees than in bushes. 



Black-billed Cuckoo : Coccysus crythrophthalmus. 



The Black-billed Cuckoo is much like the Yellow- 

 billed, but besides the different bill his wings have no 

 brown on them, and his tail-feathers are but slightly 

 tipped with white. The voice of the Black-billed is 

 softer than that of the common Cuckoo and his notes 

 are more connected. The nest and eggs are much 

 the same. Resident (rare) from May 2 to October 15. 



