320 KINGFISHERS 



blue, 1'22 x "92. Date, Gainesville, Fla., Apl. 9, laying; Buckingham Co., 

 Va., May 13; Cambridge, May 25; Mt. Carmel, Ills., May 20. 



A long, slim, dovelike bird slips noiselessly by and disappears in 

 the depths of a neighboring tree. If you can mark his position you 

 will find him perched motionless, and apparently slightly dazed. After 

 a moment he recovers and begins to hop about the tree in an active 

 search of his favorite fare of caterpillars. He is especially fond of the 

 kind which make nests in trees, commonly known as "tent cater- 

 pillars," and if you examine the conspicuous homes of these pests you 

 will frequently find them punctured with many holes made by the 

 Cuckoo's bill. A Cuckoo I shot at six o'clock one September morning 

 had the partially digested remains of forty-three of these caterpillars 

 in his stomach. 



The notes of the Cuckoo are strikingly characteristic, and while 

 subject to much variation may be fairly represented by the syllables 

 tut-tut, tut-tut, tut-tut, tut-tut, cl-uck-cl-uck-cl-uck, cl-uck-cl-uck, cl-uck, 

 cow, cow, cow, cow, cow, cow. It is not usual, however, to hear the 

 whole song given at once. 



388. Coccyzus erythrophthalmus (Wils.). BLACK-BILLED CUCKOO. 

 Ads. Upperparts grayish brown with a slight green gloss; wings arid tail 

 the same, the latter narrowly tipped with white; underparts dull white; 

 bill black. L., 11'83; W., 5'50; T., 6'26; B. from N., '74. 



Remarks. This species is to be distinguished from the Yellow-billed 

 Cuckoo chiefly by the absence of rufous in the wings, black in the tail, and 



yellow in the lower 

 mandible. 



Range. N. and S. 

 A. Breeds mainly in the 

 Transition zone from 



r se. Alberta, s. Man., s. 



FIG. 92. Tuil-f eathers of Black-billed Cuckoo. Que., and Prince Ed- 



ward Is. s. to Kans., 

 Ark., N. C., and mts. of Ga.; winters in S. A., to Peru. 



Washington, rather rare S. R., May 5-Oct., 6. Ossining, common S. R., 

 May 3-Oct. 7. Cambridge, common S. R., May 12-Sept. 20. N. Ohio, 

 tolerably common S. R., May 1-Sopt. 25. Glen Ellyn, S. R., May 5-Oct. 21. 

 SE. Minn., common S. R., May 8-Sept. 27. 



Nest, similar to that of the preceding, but more compactly built; location 

 the same. Eggs, 2-5, greenish blue, of a deeper shade than those of the 

 preceding species, 1'14 x *85. Date, Ossining, N. Y., May 28; Cambridge, 

 May 20; Mt. Carmel, Ills., May 7; se. Minn., May 16. 



This species resembles the preceding in habits. The two birds may 

 be distinguished in life by the differences in the color of their bills and 

 tails. William Brewster has called my attention to an easily recognizable 

 difference in their calls. The present species has a much softer voice, 

 and the cow, cow notes are connected. 



42. FAMILY ALCEDINID^. KINGFISHERS. (Fig. 50.) 



Kingfishers are most numerous in the Malay Archipelago, and the 

 majority of the some one hundred and ninety known species are found 



