18 LIFE HISTOEIES OF NOETH AMEBICAN BIEDS. 



to the Keys, and the west coast of southern Florida, north to about latitude 27°, 

 and to the Gulf coast of Louisiana. In Florida it appears to be rather rare, 

 while in southern Louisiana it is reported as somewhat more common. 



Audubon first met with this species on Key West and states that its habits 

 are much the same as those of the better known Yellow and Black-billed 

 Cuckoos. It seems to be found only in the immediate vicinity of the coast, 

 among the mangroves, live oaks, and dense shrubbery usually found growing 

 in such localities. Mr. E. A. Mcllhenny writes me: "The Mangrove Cuckoo 

 is not an uncommon summer visitor on the coast of southern Louisiana, where 

 it usually arrives about March 15 and leaves in September. Here it frequents 

 the live-oak timber near streams or swamps, and usually nests on horizontal 

 branches of wax myrtle, from 4 to 12 feet from the ground. 



"The earliest date on which I have taken a nest was on April 17, 1891; 

 this contained three eggs. On July 27, 1892, I took a set of four eggs, and I 

 believe that two broods are raised in a season. Both of these nests were placed 

 in wax myrtles, and were almost flat and rather poorly constructed platforms, 

 composed of dry twigs of the wax myrtle, no lining, and with barely any depres- 

 sion in the center. I am inclined to believe that the Mangrove Cuckoo is more 

 common now than formerly, and also less shy. It does not begin to incubate 

 until the full set of eggs has been deposited. When disturbed on the nest the 

 female almost always shows fight; that is, she will raise her feathers, spread her 

 tail, and fly at you very much as a hen would when guarding her young, and 

 at the same time she utters a clucking sound which resembles that of a domestic 

 hen very closely. Its food consists of locusts, grasshoppers, etc." 



Audubon states that it is fond of sucking the eggs of all kinds of birds in 

 the absence of their owners, and that it also feeds on fruits and various kinds of 

 insects. 



There are no fully identified eggs of this species in the United States National 

 Museum taken within our borders, but a number collected by Mr. W. S. March, 

 near Spanish Town, Jamaica, in May, 1862, are unquestionably referable to this 

 Cuckoo. They are pale glaucous green in color, and vaiy in shape from blunt 

 ovate to nearly a perfect oval. The shell is close grained, rather thin, and 

 without gloss. The egg resembles that of the better known Yellow-billed 

 Cuckoo very closely, but averages a trifle larger. 



The average measurement of twelve eggs from Jamaica is 30.88 by 23.45 

 millimetres, or about 1.21 by 0.92 inches. The largest egg measures 32.51 by 

 24.64 millimetres, or 1.28 by 0.97 inches; the smallest, 29.72 by 21.59 milli- 

 metres, or 1.17 by 0.85 inches. 



The type specimen, No. 6052 (not figured), from a set of six eggs, was 

 taken by Mr. W. S. March, referred to above, near Spanish Town, Jamaica, in 

 May, 1862. 



