THE OOLOOIST 



189 



Nesting of the Black-billed Cuckoo. 



So far as my experience goes with 

 the Black-billed Cuckoo they usually 

 nest in the thick marsh willows, and 

 not very high up from the ground, and 

 nearly always place the nest on hori- 

 zontal or practical horizontal branches, 

 seldom in upright forks and as a rule 

 construct a substantial nest and lay 

 from two to five eggs, as Wilson states 

 in American Ornithology. 



Nest number one was found among 

 thick willows, two and a half feet from 

 the ground, and contained two eggs. 

 The bird remained on the nest until 

 I almost touched her. This nest was 

 like all the other nests I have found, 

 with but one single exception. It was 

 built in a very large thick patch of 

 willows. I did not find any more nests 

 for twenty-seven years, when one day, 

 a very hot day, I lay in a very shady 

 place under a willow already for a 

 plunge in the river, when on looking 

 into a willow branch above my head, 

 I saw a nest. Getting quickly to my 

 feet I looked into it, when to my sur- 

 prise I saw it was filled with eggs. I 

 took them out and there were five of 

 them and they were very cold and 

 seemed to be settled into the nest. 

 As the nest had a deserted look I de- 

 cided to take them home. I prepared 

 them to carry and placed them with 

 my belongings. On preparing them I 

 had to use acid, as they were badly in- 

 cubated. The nest was in a leaning, 

 bushy branch up about three feet. 



While taking a stroll along Cedar 

 River, near Vinton, Iowa, I found a 

 nest of this species in a small crab 

 apple tree, up about three feet, con- 

 taining one infertile egg, the nest giv- 

 ing evidence that young had occupied 

 it. 



The next nest I found was in the 

 usual piece of willow near here, placed 

 in a slight crotch of an almost horizon- 

 tal branch, scantily hidden, up about 



three feet and contained two slightly 

 incubated eggs. I visited the nest 

 three times and had a chance to watch 

 the bird before she left. A bad storm 

 that destroyed other nests in the wil- 

 lows seemed to have not affected this 

 nest. 



The next nest that I found was a 

 new looking nest and empty, though 

 I think it was deserted. The next 

 nest I found was a new nest placed in 

 the forks of an incline branch up about 

 forty inches, contained two broken 

 eggs and one whole one. It had been 

 party upset by the recent hard wind 

 and rain storm and was deserted. I 

 took the eggs home and am trying to 

 prepare them with the use of acid, but 

 I am afraid it won't plan out. I later 

 found three other nests, the last one 

 was possibly an old one. The follow- 

 ing is the data for each set. 



Nest number one, dated July 31, 

 1891, locality Columbus, Wis., placed 

 in a willow scrub, two and one half 

 feet from the ground, loosely built of 

 small sticks, skeletons of leaves, leaves 

 of willows, moss and grass, lined with 

 moss, small twigs and a few feathers 

 from the bird, and a little vegetable 

 down, measures outside 8.25 x 14 x 2.5 

 inches deep. The eggs are a deep 

 bluish green, measure 1.16 x .81 and 

 1.17 x .82 inches, incubation advanced. 



Nest number two, date August 6th, 

 1918. Was placed in a leaning bushy 

 branch, up about three feet, composed 

 of small twigs, willow leaves, moss 

 and leaf skeleton buds and lined with 

 finer material of the same kind, 

 measured some eight inches across, 

 and 2.5 inches deep. The eggs are a 

 greenish blue, growing paler when 

 dried. When fresh had a slightly 

 clouded effect, measure 1.10 x .88; 1.14 

 x .82; 1.00 x .80; 1.09 x .80; 1.13 x .78 

 form eliptical. 



Nest number three, I found late in 

 August 1918, along Cedar River, near 



