26 DIVISION I. VERTEBRAL ANIMALS.—CLASS II. AVES. 
habits of the two species are very similar, although the present bird prefers 
the more cultivated and open districts, while the other seems to delight in 
the more retired and wooded localities. 
In flight, the Black-billed Cuckoo is more swift than the other; in breed- 
ing habits, the same ; and its food is similar, consisting principally of insects 
and their larve, small fruits, and the eggs and young of small birds. Like 
* the other, the Black-billed Cuckoo is very cowardly, and is quickly driven 
from the neighborhood of the nest of almost any of the other birds. If a 
robin, or other bird of equal size, discover one of these, to him pirates, in 
the vicinity of his nest, he immediately assaults the intruder, with loud out- 
cries, pouncing upon him, and pecking with great ferocity. Others of his 
neighbors, who are near, join in the attack : the Cuckoo, in retreating, dives 
into the recesses of a stone wall, or the first secure retreat available, very 
seldom taking to his wings, as another bird would do. We have known of 
a Cuckoo being driven into a barn by a bluebird (iS. stalis), who sat perch- 
ing on a fence outside for several minutes, keeping his enemy prisoner; and 
the latter, when pursued and captured, preferred being our prisoner to facing 
his enemy outside. 
The nest of the Black-billed Cuckoo is usually placed in a low tree or 
barberry-bush. It is constructed of twigs, roots, and sometimes a few 
leaves and moss. We have examined a great number of these, from dif- 
ferent sections, and have noticed that those from northern localities were 
invariably lined with gray moss, called Spanish moss, and leaves, while 
others, from more southern districts, were without such linings. 
The eggs are usually four in number: they are of a darker greenish blue 
than those of the other bird, and average a little smaller, their length vary- 
ing from 1 to 1.12 inch, by from .84 to .92 inch in breadth. 
Of the Cuculéne, or Cuckoos, the Common Cuckoo (Cuculus canorus) 
of Europe is a good example. 
The following account of this species is by Gilbert White : — 
“Tn July I saw several Cuckoos skimming over a large pond, and found, 
after some observation, that they were feeding on Libellulw, or dragon- 
flies, some of which they caught as they settled on the weeds, and some as 
they were on the wing. The favorite food of this bird, however, are the 
hairy caterpillars, or some of the lepidopterous order ; these it kills by pass- 
ing them through the sharp edges of its mandibles; it then nips off the 
hinder end of the caterpillar, and, with a jerk or two, clears the body of the 
alimentary canal, and immediately swallows it whole. With the hairs of 
the caterpillar the stomach is often completely coated. In a communication 
by Mr. Thompson to the Zodlogical Society in 1834, he states, that in three 
Cuckoos, examined in 1833, the stomach, with the exception of some small, 
sharp gravel, was entirely empty, and coated closely over with hair. 
