THE YELLOW-BILLED CUCKOO 



23 



drab — or gray-brown— and its white under surface from throat 

 to tail. To carry out this color scheme to its logical se- 

 quence, the upper mandible is dusky brown and the lower 

 one is yellow. 



This bird derives one of its common names — Rain-" Crow" 

 — from the fact that its peculiar cry is heard oftenest on still 

 and cloudy summer 

 days — two conditions 

 which to the weather- 

 wise farmer always por- 

 tend rain. Its cry is a 0^^ '' " *'* j>^ 

 weird, gurgling note 

 which sounds like 

 " Cowk-cowk-cowk- 

 cowk!" and usually it 

 comes from the heart 

 of a thick bush or tree 

 which effectually screens the bird. It seems to be fully aware of 

 the dangers which beset all birds which attempt to live in the 

 open with civilized man, for it lives amid the forest shadows. 



This bird, and also its twin species, the Black-Billed 

 Cuckoo, lives almost wholly upon insects. Of 155 Cuckoo 

 stomachs examined by the Department of Agriculture, only 

 one contained any vegetable food — two small berries. Nearly 

 half the Cuckoo's food proved to be caterpillars, 2,771 of 

 which were found in 129 stomachs. It was not uncommon 

 for one bird to contain more than 100 of them. "During 

 May and June, when tent-caterpillars are defoliating the fruit 

 trees, these insects constitute half of the Cuckoo's food." 



YELLOW-BILLED CUCKOO. 



