The Mystery of the Black-billed Cuckoo 



145 



this midnight gamboling of short-winged, diurnal (?) brush-birds in the 

 open heavens? He who can answer this question will have solved one of 

 the strangest ornithological problems that has come up in recent years. 

 Burroughs, as Mr. Ralph Hoffmann has lately pointed out to me, writes of 

 experiences with Cuckoos very much like mine, and saj's he believes the 

 birds are quiet largely nocturnal ("Pepacton," pp. 15, 16). He also says 

 that the nocturnal flight -notes may be heard in any part of the [Cuckoo] 

 country, which is what I have suspected, but never had opportunities of 

 proving. In fact, my task would be merely to corroborate and call attention 

 to this seemingly neglected statement of Burroughs's, were it not for the 

 fact that my own experience brings a strong additional element of mystery 

 to the case; namely, the great height and evident protractedness of the 

 flights. For, granted that the Cuckoo actually is a nocturnal bird, which 

 moves about freely from one feeding-place to another in the night-time 

 (and this would mean that its life-history is still all to learn), how are we 

 to account for the height and length and regularity of the flights? Flights 

 from tree to tree, or from copse to copse, would be legitimate enough; but 

 these long, celestial ( ! ) journeys are quite incomprehensible. 



Nocturnal the birds certainly must be, at the least of it. Aside from 

 the evidence already adduced, their large, dark eyes and peculiarly quiet and 

 elusive day-time habits favor this hypothesis. So at least it seems to me: — 

 perhaps I am going too fast. But whatever the final verdict on this point 

 may be, it is certain that our New Hampshire Cuckoos (or their departed 

 spirits!) are given to traveling about through the still air of night, high 

 over woods and lakes and mountains. To the uninitiated this will sound 

 like nonsense; but let any ornithologist who is in the least danger of ever 

 spending summer nights afield in southern New Hampshire beware of 

 committing himself to skepticism on the subject. 



The field of ornithology, even here in thrice-thrashed-out New Eng- 

 land, is still full of untarnished wonders and surprises. 



