AVES—CUCKOO...TOUCAN. 543 
eountry it retires, or whether it has been ever seen on its journey, are ques- 
tions that we are wholly incapable of resolving. 
Of this bird there are many kinds in various parts of the world, not only 
differing in their colors but their size. Latham make no less than forty 
species. There is a large spotted cuckoo in the south of Spain; and at the 
Cape of Good Hope there is a black-crested species. Only the common and 
spotted cuckoo have been seen in Europe. 
THE AMERICAN CUCKOO! 
Is sometimes called the cow-bird, from its note; and it is also catied :n 
Virginia, the rain crow, from being most clamorous just before rain. A 
traveller in our woods, in May or June, will sometimes hear, as he traverses 
the borders of deep, retired, high timbered hollows, an uncouth guttural 
sound or note, resembling the words kowe, kowe, kowe, kowe, kowe, beginning 
slowly, but ending so rapidly that the notes seem to run into each other, 
and vice versa. He will hear this frequently, without being able to discover 
the bird or animal from which it proceeds; as this bird is shy and solitary, 
seeking always the thickest foliage for concealment. It breeds all over the 
United States, from Boston to the Mississippi, preferring the borders of soli- 
tary swamps and apple orchards. The nest is usually fixed in an apple tree, 
and sometimes on a thorn in the woods. It is almost flat, and composed of 
twigs and weeds. When you approach the nest, the female throws herself 
on the ground, and feigns lameness to draw you off. They feed on caterpil- 
lars and insects. They are accused also of sucking the eggs of other birds, 
and sometimes eat berries. \ 
This bird is thirteen inches long; the whole upper parts are drab; or quaker 
eelor, with greenish reflections. The under parts are pure white. The bill 
1s yellow, and the legs and feet light blue. 
THE. “TOU CAN. 
Or this extraordinary bird there are about fifteen species. We shall only 
describe the red-beaked toucan.? It is about the size of, and shaped like 
a jackdaw, with a large head to support its monstrous bill; this bill, from 
1 Cuculus Carolinensis, WiLson. 
2 Ramphastos toco, Latu. The genus Ramphastos has the bill cellular, thin, transpa- 
rent, broader than the head at the base, convex above, serrated at the edges, and a little 
incurvated at the tip; nostrils vertical, concealed behind the corneous maw, surrounded 
by a membrane ; tarsus as long as the external toe; the two anterior toes united at the 
second jomt ; tail short. 
