14 Birds of Canada, 



ORDER II. 



FAMILY CUCULID^. THE CUCKOOS. 



Coccygus americanus. The Yellow-billed Cuckoo. 



The Yellow-billed Cuckoo is a rare visitor in 

 Canada. It is eleven inches in length. Color, 



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above, olive-green, tinged with ash near the bill ; 

 beneath, white ; tail, olive-green, with a border 

 of black tipped with white ; upper mandible, 

 black ; lower, yellow ; quills, orange-cinnamon. 

 This bird breeds in the United States. Its nest 

 is built in a low tree or shrub ; eggs, four, of a 

 bright green color. The song of this cuckoo is 

 discordant and harsh, and may be represented 

 by kow-kow, how-how. Its food consists of in- 

 sects and the eggs and young of other birds. 



Coccygus erythrophthalmiis. The Black-billed 

 Cuckoo. 



This species is a regular summer visitor. It 

 arrives about the tenth of May, and remains 

 until the first of September. In size, color, and 

 characteristics, it closely resembles the preceding 

 bird. It differs only in having both mandibles 

 black. This cuckoo breeds in Canada. Nests 

 in a barberry bush or low tree ; eggs, four, of a 

 bright green color. 



