150 THE BIRDS 
make them readily distinguishable from those of the 
Yellow-billed Cuckoo, while the birds themselves also 
differ from that species by having a black bill instead of 
the yellow. The nest is a rude platform of twigs, 
occasionally a few dry leaves on inner surface, placed 
from two to ten feet up in a bush or tree, thick clumps 
of bushes being preferred. Their habits and food are 
similar to that of the Yellow-billed Cuckoo, though they 
are reported as having laid eggs in other birds’ nests, 
though this condition has never come under my personal 
notice during all the vears of my field work. 
