('i('ii,ii).K-Tiii'; CUCKOOS. 4^3 



was tlio first tn iii(lii(l(. tl,,' Maiij^Movu Cnckno iimoii,!,^ Nnrtli AiiKiriciiu birds, 

 s])oaks of it as an iiil.al.itant t^iiiotly of (,'ayonuo, uiul as owasi(.iuilly visit- 

 m>4 tl.n oxtreme Soutlierii States. :Mr. Audubon, who was tiie first to incct 

 witli flic species witliin the limits of tiio United States, only obtained sjieei- 

 niens ): it iu T'lorichi, near Ki-y West. I have seen a sixjcinieii which was 

 given to Mr. John C. IJell as havinj.' been jn'ocnred in Souliieni Mi.ssissippi. 

 Mr. Gosse obtained specimens of this bird in Jamaica, thou^dl lie had no 

 opportunit] observing it.^ domestic economy. In the month of January 

 the specimens he dissected had e^j^s in their ovaries as laroc as duck- 

 shot. J)r. Uundlach j-ives it as a Cuban bird, but does not mention it as 

 one that breeds on that island. The Newtons met with this species in St. 

 Croix, but appear to have re.ganled it as not a summer resident, but only in 

 the light of a visitant in the winter. 



.Air. March, referring without doubt to this .species, mentions it as a con- 

 stant resident in the island of Jamaica, where it is common in the lowlands 

 during summer. It is said to bi'ced from March to July, building in the 

 low branches of trees or in shrubs. The nest is described as a .s"tructure 

 composed of a few dry sticks, so loo.sely put together that it falls to pieces 

 on any attempt to remove it. Three, rarely four, eggs are lahl, which are 

 of a glaucous-green color, oval, generally round at both ends, and varying 

 in size from 1.2j indies by .!)() to l.;58 inches by 1 inch. 



Of late years no specimens seem to have been olitaincd in Florida, either 

 by Maynard or by the many other explorers of the I'eninsula ; anil even 

 if the earlier notices are correct, we may have to consider it as merely a 

 straggler from the Bahamas, like Cnihiulu haho mentis, Cro(op/ia>/a uni, Vho- 

 niiHira zcmi, Viirvs///ri(i harhatulii, etc. 



Mr. Audubon, who was the only one of our naturalists who met with 

 the nest and eggs, di.scovered them near Key West. He descrilies the nest 

 as slightly constructed of dry twigs, and as almost flat, nearly resembling 

 that of the Yellow-billed Cuckoo. Tiie eggs are the .same in number and 

 form as those of that species, but are somewhat larger. It is said to rai.se 

 tw(j broods in one season, and to feed its young on insects until they are 

 able to provide for themselves. An ohl bird, caught on its nest, which Mr. 

 Audubon saw confined in a cage, refused all food and soon pined itself to 

 death, — thus evincing, in his opinion, the great affection these birds have for 

 their own eggs. An egg in the Smithsonian Institution collection, given me 

 by :Mr. John G. Bell of New York, is said to have been obtained iu I\Iis- 

 sissippi with the parent bird. Its color has slightly faded, and, except in 

 its greater comparative breadth, it is not distinguishable from the eizas of 

 the Yellow-bill. 



