cu(jri,ii).K TiiK cicKoos. 485 



Doiniiiy;o and (hiiana, and also, on tliu antliority of Mr. Alil)ott, tliat it 

 breeds in (uM)rj,'ia a^ early as the 1st of April, Mr. Audubon .says it was 

 never met with by J)r. llachnian in South Carolina, it certainly breeds, 

 however, as fur south, at least, us treorjjiiu, as the nest and egjjis of this spe- 

 cies were taken at Vanu^ll Station, in the northwestern part of that State, 

 by the late Hr. Alexander Gerhardt. 



It is not mentioned by either Dr. (Janibel or Dr. lleernmnn as anionjj; the 

 birds of the Pacific (.'oast, and it does not ajipear to have been actually 

 obtained by any of the expeditions to the Pacilic beyond tlu; Indian Terri- 

 tory. Its distribution, therefore, ilurinj,' the breedinji-season, would seem to 

 be from (ieorgia to Canada, and from Texas to Minnesota, inclusive of all the 

 intermediate territory. Dr. Newberry freiiueutly saw and heard what he 

 .su])posed to have been this species, in the trees liorderiny Cow Creek, near 

 Fort licading, but as he did not secure a Hi)ecimen, he may have been mis- 

 taken. It has been taken at Devil's Lake, in Minnesota, and in the lied 

 liiver Settlement. 



Wilson describes the nest of this bird as generally built in a cedar, much 

 in the same nuiuner, and of nearly the same materials, as tlia.t of the Yellow- 

 bill ; the eggs are smaller than tho.se of that bird, usually ibur or five in 

 number, and of a deeper greenish-blue. 



Mr. Audubon speaks of the nest as built in ])laces similar to those chosen 

 by the other sjiecies, as formed of the sanu! materials, and arranged with (piite 

 as little art. He gives the number of eggs as from four to si.x, of a greenish- 

 blue, nearly equal at both ends, but rather smalha' than those of the Vellow- 

 l)ill, rounder, and of a nmch deeper tint of green, lie gives their measure- 

 ment as 1.50 inches in length and .87 of an inch in breadth. 



]Mr. Xuttall, whose description more nearly corresponds with my own ol)- 

 servations, speaks of this species as usually retiring into the woods to breed, 

 being less familiar than the former species, and choosing an evergreen l)ush 

 or sapling for the site of the nest, which is made of twigs pretty well put 

 together, but still little more than a concave thxjring, and lined with moss 

 occasionally, and withered catkins of the hickory. The eggs are described 

 as smaller, and three to live in nund)er, of a bluish-green. The female sits 

 very close on the nest, admitting a near apin'oach before Hying. He also 

 sj)eaks of this species as being less timorous than the Yellow-billed, and 

 states that near the nest, with yijung, he has observed the ]»arcnt composedly 

 sit and plume itself for a considerable time without showing any alarm at 

 his jiresence. 



In all the instances in which I have observed the nest of this species, I 

 have invariably found it in retired damp places, usually near the edg(»s of 

 woods, and built, not in trees, after the manner of the Yellow-billed Cuckoo, 

 but in bushes and in low shrubbery, often not more than two or three feet 

 from the ground. The nest, without being at all remarkable for its finish, 

 or the nicety of its arrangement, is much more artistic and elaborate than 



