CATALOGUE OF CANADIAN BIRDS. 293 



Breeding Notes. — Summer resident, common. Breeds in 

 Mount Royal Park. I have found their nests, containing eggs, 

 from June 4th to July 22nd. Observed here from May 21st to 

 September 5th. Their nests are generally built in thorn bushes, 

 from one to eight feet above the ground, but small cedar trees are 

 favourite building sites for them as well. This bird appears to 

 have a remarkable habit of laying fresh eggs while those already 

 laid are being incubated and hatched. The naked younglings 

 are black in colour, and repulsive looking, but they harmonize 

 with the nest, which is a slight structure of dead twigs, with a 

 very shallow cavity, lined with a few dead leaves, the nest being 

 very small for the size of the bird and its eggs. The cuckoo 

 seems to prefer solitude, and keeps itself out of sight in thickets, 

 where its harsh notes can be heard sounding like " cow-cow " or 

 " cuckucow " repeated quickly several times. {Wintle.) 



A very common species in all the counties of eastern Ontario, 

 especially at the foot of Lake Ontario, where early in June I 

 have seen six or seven together. In 1897 I heard it at Pictou, 

 Nova Scotia, and it was observed on the Magdalen Islands in 

 June, 1900. It usually builds a nest in a swampy thicket ; twice 

 I have found the nest almost on the ground, once in an elm sap- 

 pling six feet above, but this is very unusual. The average time 

 for laying is the end of the first week in June in eastern Ontario. 

 Usually I have found two or three eggs in a nest, but once five, 

 and June 13th, 1900, seven. This bird appears to arrive later in 

 spring than the yellow-billed and certainly goes away earlier in 

 the fall, from which I suppose it migrates further south.. {Rev. 

 C.J. Young.) A summer resident around Toronto, Ont. I have 

 several times seen its nest. I have also found it breeding in Mani- 

 toba and in Assiniboia as far west as the Qu'Appelle valley. 

 {W. Raine.) This bird nests in a low bush at Ottawa, Ont. Nest 

 composed of twigs, strips of bark, dry grass and leaves, lined with 

 grass. Eggs two to five of a light greenish blue. {G. R. White.) 



In the transactions of the Canadian Institute, Vol. I. pp. 48-50, 

 an interesting account by Dr. C. K. Clarke of this cuckoo laying 

 its eggs in the nests of other birds is published. Three cases are 

 noted, and there is no doubt in the mind of the writer that the 

 facts are as recorded by Dr. Clarke. All the cases were noted at 

 Elora, Ont. In the first case an egg was laid in the nest of a 

 chipping sparrow from which in due time a young cuckoo was 



