CUCKOOS. 



225 



Fig. 73.— Tail-ffatluTs of Yellow-billed Cuckoo. 



386a* C« m. moiynardi ( /iit/</ii'.). Maynard's CrcKoo.— Siiuilar to 

 the pri'eeiliiiijr, but with u sli^litly smiillor bill and much pulcr uiuler parts, 

 till! thmat atid lu'cast bciii:,' u'fa\ isli white, very t'aiiitly wa.shcd with oi-iira- 

 ccous, wliieh becdiiies .Htri)ii<;er on llie bully. iJ. I'roiu M., •'Ji>. 



Mange. — Bahamas ami Florida Kcy.s. 



This bird is a ref,'uhir siimmcr ri'sident in the Florida Key« and 

 probably adjoining Atlantic mainland (see Scott, Auk, vi, 1889, p. 250). 



387. Coccyzus americanus {Linn.). Yki.i.ow-billed Ctckoo. 

 (See Fij^. 'M.j A<l. — UpinT parts brownish \in\y ,vith «li<.'ht frreenish >rlo«8; 

 most of the wini,'-t'catiiers rufoux. c.vcciit at the tip; outer tail-feathers blacky 

 coiispicuou.sly tipped 

 with white, which ex- 

 tends down the outer 

 vane of the outer 

 feather; under parts 

 dull whitish; bill 

 black, tlie lower man- 

 dible yellow., except at the tip. L., 12-'J0; W., r)'70 ; T., t)-20 ; B. from N., -Id. 



RtUKirks. — This species bears a f.'eneral rcsemblaiiee to the Blaek-biilcd 

 Cuckoo, but nuiy always be known from that species by its yellow lower 

 mandil)le, rufous wintr-feathers, and black, whitc-tipjtcd tail-feathers. 



/i'«;?y(;.— North America; brceils froiu Floriila to New Brunswick, and 

 wiiitcrs in Central and South America. 



Washin;Xtiin, cummon S. K., May 2 to Oct. 15. Sim,' Sinjr, conunon S. K., 

 May 4 to Oct. .31. Cambridge, common S. K., May 12 to Au<,'. 



^Vc.vi', a plattbrm of small sticks, with a few [grasses or catkins, (,'cncrally in 

 low trees or vine-covered bushes, four to ten feel from the ground. J^V/ys, 

 three to tivc, pale greenish blue, 1-22 x •li2. 



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

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

 will find him perched motionless, and ap[>arently slij^htly dazed. After 

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

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

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

 pillar.s," and if you examine the conspicuous homes of these pests you 

 will freqiuMitly find them punctured with many holes made by the 

 Cuckoo's bill. A Cuckoo I shot at six o'clnck oiu' 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 

 tiit-fuf, fiif-fiif, fiif-tiif, tut-tiit, c/-ncli-c/-nck-rl-urk, cl-uck-d-vrk, cl-nrk, 

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

 whole song given at once. 

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