226 SOME COMMON LAND-BIRDS. 



calling. But long shall you watch before you catch her 

 crying out her kow-kow-kow. Let her come upon you lying 

 in the grass and there is not a more silent bird anywhere 

 than our shy, soft-mannered cuckoo. She will regard you 

 shrinkingly a moment, and then fade away before your eyes. 

 Not a rustle of a leaf, not a stir of a twig, not a flip of wings, 

 but a ghostly vanishing. The slender, soft-colored, long-tailed 

 bird that looked at you out of a clear hazel eye evaded you just 

 at the moment when you winked or glanced aside. Perhaps 

 she merely hopped a little way and drew herself into some 

 uncouth position, as long and slender as a dead apple-branch ; 

 or perhaps her hazy colors hid her ; or perhaps she removed 

 quite away from you, and you hear her kow-kow-kow from 

 another leafy cover. 



You must not expect a closer acquaintance. Cuckoo is so 

 shy, so quiet, so unwilling to be looked at, that unless you have 

 a good glass or unlimited patience you must be satisfied with a 

 glimpse of the soft brown back and the long, graduated tail. In 

 time you will learn her peculiar flight, her size, and her notes 

 so well that even a half glimpse will be all you need to be cer- 

 tain of her neighborhood. 



The two kinds of cuckoos which we have in this country look 

 much alike, but they differ enough in their haunts, their habits, 

 and their call notes to be quite readily distinguished, even 

 without a sight of the black on the tail which marks the 

 yellow-billed, and the red stripe around the eye which dis- 

 tinguishes the black-billed cuckoo. In many parts of the 

 country both species are found ; in some but one is common, 

 and the other rare or wanting altogether. Do you know 

 whether both sorts live near you ? Which do you have ? How 

 do you tell them apart ? If you have ever heard them called 

 rain crows, as they are in many places, perhaps you can tell 



