CUCULID^ — THE CUCKOOS. 895 



an egg in the nest of the other, or even in other birds' nests, it is 

 not at all improbable that they may eventually become completely 

 parasitic, hke their European cousins. 



Coccyzus erythrophthalmus (Wils.) 



BLACK-BILLED CUCKOO, 



Guculus erythrophthalmus Wils. Am. Orn. iv,1811, IG, pi. 27, fig. 2. 

 Coccyzus erythrophthalmus Bp. 1825.— Aud. Orn. Biog. 1,1832,170, pi. ,32; Synop. 1839,187; 

 B. Am. iv. 1842, 300, pi. 276.— CouEs, Key. 1872, 199; Cheek List, 1872, No. 230; 2d ed. 

 1882. No. 428; B. N. W. 1874, 274.-KIDOW. Norn. N. Am. B, 1881, No. 388. 

 Coccyzus erythrophthalmus Cab. 1856,— Baird, B. N. Am. 1858, 77; Cat. N. Am, B. 1859, 

 No. 70 —B. B. & B. Hist. N. Am. B. ii, 1874, 484, pi. 48,lig. 5. 

 Coccyzus domlnicus "Linn." Nutt. Man. i, 1832,556 (nee Linn.) 



Hab. Eastern North America, north to Labrador, west to Roclcy Mountains; south 

 In winter, througli eastern Mexico and Central America to the Amazon Valley; Cuba 

 (and Florida?) in winter. Accidental in Europe. 



"Sp. Chak. Bill entirely black. Upper piirts generally of a metallic greenish olive, 

 ashy towards the base of the bill; beneath pure white, with a brownish yellow tinge on 

 the throat. Inner webs of the quills tinged with cinnamon. Under surface of all the 

 tail-feathers hoary ash-gray. All, except the central on either side, suffused with 

 darker to the short, bluish white, and not well-defined tip. A naked red skin round the 

 eye. Length, about 12.00; wing, 5.00; tail, 6.50." {.Hist. N. Am.. B.) 



"First plumage: remale. Above lustrous plumbeous ashy, feathers upon the crown, 

 nape, and anterior part of the back, narrowly tipped with pale ashy; those of the inter- 

 scapular region and rump, together with the scapulars and upper tail-coverts, more 

 broadly so with ashy white. Outer edges of quills light rufous. Beneath delicate pearl- 

 gray, lightest on the abdomen, slightly tinged with pale brownish yellow on the throat 

 and breast. From a specimen in my collection shot in Lincoln, Mass., June 17, 1871, 

 Autumnal specimens (probably only the young birds) differ from spring adults in hav- 

 ing the naked skin around the eye yellow instead of red." (Bebwsteb, Bull. Nutt. Orn. 

 Club. Oct. 1878, p. 178.) 



Popularly confounded with the Yellow-billed Cuckoo, this species 

 closely resembles it in habits and in general appearance. They 

 may not frequently be found in the same localities, as evidence 

 of which it may be stated that the writer once found a nest of each 

 in adjoining trees in an apple orchard, near Mt. Carmel. In the 

 vicinity of the place just mentioned it is far rarer than the C. 

 americanus, occurring in about the proportion of one to twenty-five 

 of the latter; but to the northward it increases in numbers until 

 in the northern portion of the State, it is perhaps more common 

 than C. americanus. 



