229 



it has been recorded from Porto Rico ; Professor Newton found it breeding in St. Croix ; and 

 Gundlach includes it as found in Jamaica. 



When in Texas I was fortunate in being able to see the present species in a wild state, and 

 to take several nests. Though not shy, it is watchful and somewhat secretive in its habits, and is 

 not often seen ; for it resorts to the more densely foliaged places, where it can the more easily 

 escape observation. Its call-note, which, though monotonous, is not unpleasant, is well described 

 by Nuttall as follows : — " The male frequently betrays his snug retreat by his monotonous and 

 guttural kow kow kow kow or koo koo koo koo, and ko kuk, ko kuk, koo koo koo kuk, koo ko koo, 

 koo ko koo, uttered rather low and plaintively, like the call of the Dove. At other times the 

 kow kow kow, and 'tk 'tk 'tk 'tk 'tdk or 'kh 'kh 'kh 'kh 'kali kow kow kow kow, beginning slow, rises 

 and becomes so quick as almost to resemble the grating of a watchman's rattle, or else, com- 

 mencing with this call, terminates in the distant cry of kow kow kow. From this note, supposed 

 to be most clamorous at the approach of rain, it has received in Virginia and other States the 

 name of Rain-Crow and also Kow-bird. At various seasons, during the continuance of warm 

 weather, the vigil koto Mw koio kow of the faithful male is uttered for hours, at intervals, through 

 the night. The same notes, but delivered in a slower and rather tenderer strain, are given with 

 great regularity likewise in the day as long as the period of incubation continues. He often 

 steadfastly watches any approach to the nest, going to it occasionally to assure himself that it is 

 unmolested ; and at times he may be observed darting even at the dormant Bat who accidentally 

 seeks repose beneath the shady leaves of some contiguous trees ; so that he is no less vigilant 

 in seeking to ensure the security of his own progeny than in piratically robbing the nests of his 

 neighbours." 



Unlike our European Cuckoo, which intrusts its progeny to the care of a foster-parent, the 

 Yellow-billed Cuckoo builds a slight nest, and attends to the incubation of her own eggs. Yet 

 it would appear that at times she is inclined to throw the charge of her offspring on other 

 birds. Alluding to this habit, Nuttall says, " I have found an egg of the Cuckoo in the nest of a 

 Cat-bird ; yet, though the habitation had been usurped, the intruder probably intended to hatch 

 her own eggs. At another time, on the 15th of June, 1830, I saw a Robin's nest with two eggs 

 in it indented and penetrated by the bill of a bird, and the egg of a Cuckoo deposited in the 

 same nest." One peculiarity in the nidification of the present species is the fact noticed by 

 Audubon, that its eggs are laid at intervals, and that, after those first deposited have been 

 hatched, the warmth of the bodies of the young birds assists in the incubation of the later- 

 deposited eggs. Audubon's observations on this subject are as follows : — " A nest, which was 

 placed near the centre of a tree of moderate size, was reached by a son of the gentleman on 

 whose grounds we were. One of the old birds, which was sitting upon it, left its situation only 

 when within a few inches of the climber's hand, and silently glided off to another tree close by. 

 Two young Cuckoos, nearly able to fly, scrambled off from their tenement among the branches of 

 the tree and were caught. The nest was taken and carefully handed to me. It still contained 

 three young Cuckoos, all of different sizes, the smallest apparently just hatched, the next in size 

 probably several days old, while the largest, covered with pin-feathers, would have been able to 

 leave the nest in about a week. There were also in the nest two eggs, one containing a chick, 

 the other fresh or lately laid. The two young birds which escaped from their nest clung so 



