YELLOW-BILLED CUCKOO. 267 
YELLOW-BILLED CUCKOO.—CUCULUS CAROLINENSIS. — 
Fre. 127. 
Cuculus Americanus, Linn. Syst. 170. — Catesb. i. 9.— Lath. i. 537.— Le Coucou 
de la Caroline, Briss. iv. 112.— Arct. Zool. 265, No. 155.— Peale’s Museum, 
No. 1778. : 
COCCYZUS AMERICANUS. — Bonarante.* 
Coceyzus Americanus, Bonap. Synop. p. 42. — The Yellow-billed Cuckoo, 
Aud. pl. 2; Orn. Biog. i. p. 18. 
A svranceR who visits the United States, for the purpose of 
examining their natural productions, and passes’ through our woods in 
the month of May or June, will sometimes hear, as he traverses the 
‘borders of deep, retired, high-timbered hollows, an uncouth, guttural 
sound or note, resembling the syllables kowe, kowe, kowe kowe kowe, be- 
ginning slowly, but ending so rapidly, that the notes seem to run into 
each other ; and vice versa: he will hear this frequently, without being 
able to discover the bird or animal from which it proceeds, as it is both 
shy and solitary, seeking always the thickest foliage for concealment. 
This is the Yellow-billed Cuckoo, the subject, of the present account. 
From the imitative sound of its note, it is known in many parts by the 
* Bonaparte has preferred restoring the specifie name of Linnseus to that given 
by Catesby and Brisson, and by this it should stand in our systems. ; 
This form will represent in America the true Cuckoos, which. otherwise range 
over the world; it was first separated by Vaillant under the French name Conec, 
and the same division was adopted by Vicillot, under the name of Coccyzus, which 
is now retained. They differ from the Cuckoos chiefly in habit, — building a regu- 
Jar nest, and rearing their young. North America possesses only two species, our 
present and the following, which are both migratory. Some beautiful species are 
met with in different parts of the southern continent. 
Mr. Audubon has added little to their history further than confirming the accounts 
of Wilson. In their migrations northward, they move singly ; but when removin 
again to a warmer latitude, they appear to be gregarious, flying high in the air, oad 
in loose flocks. ‘ 
They appear to delight more in deep, woody solitudes than the true Cuckoos, or 
those which approach nearest to the form of the European species. They, again, 
though often found near woods, and in richly-clothed countries, are fond of open 
and extensive heaths or commons, studded or fringed with brush and forest : here 
they may expect an abundant supply of the foster-parent to their young. The 
gliding and turning motion when flying ina thicket, however, is similar to that of 
the American Coccyzus. Like them, also, they are seldom on the ground ; but, 
when obliged to be near it, alight on some hillock or twig, where they will continue 
for a considerable time, swinging round their body in a rather ludicrous manner, 
with lowered wings and expanded tail, and uttering a rather low, monotonous 
sound, resembling the kowe of our American bird, — 
Turning round and round with cutty-coo. 
When suddenly surprised or disturbed from their roost at night, they utter a short, 
tremulous whistle, three or four times repeated ; it is only on their first arrival, dur- 
ing the early part of incubation, when im search of a mate, that their well-known 
and welcome note is heard; by the first of July all is silent. The idea that: the 
Common Cuckoo destroys eggs and young birds, like the American Coccyzus, is 
also entertained ; I have never seen them do so, but the fact is affirmed by most 
country persons, and many gamekeepers destroy them on this account. — En. 
