THE YELLOW-BILLED CUCKOO. 297 



colour, than those of the Black-billed Cuckoo. I must not omit to say, that 

 during calm and pleasant nights, the well known notes of this bird frequently 

 fall on the ear of him who may be reposing in his lonely camp, or on that of 

 him who rests on his downy couch. I have often enjoyed this monotonous 

 music in the Floridas, during the winter which I spent there. 



The branch, among the foliage of which you see the male and female 

 winging their way, is one of the papaiv, a tree of small size, seldom more 

 than from twenty to thirty feet in height, with a diameter of from three to 

 seven inches. It is found growing in all rich grounds, to which it is peculiar, 

 from the southern line of our States to central Pennsylvania, seldom farther 

 eastward, here and there only along the alluvial shores of the Ohio and 

 Mississippi. In all other places of like nature you may meet with groves of 

 papaw trees, covering an acre or more of ground. The fruit, which is 

 represented in the plate, consists of a pulpy and insipid substance, within 

 which are found several large, hard, and glossy seeds. The rind is extremely 

 thin. The wood is light, soft, brittle, and almost useless. The bark, which 

 is smooth, may be torn off from the foot of the tree to the very top, and is 

 frequently used for making ropes, after it has been steeped in water suffi- 

 ciently to detach the outer part, when the fibres are obtained, which, when 

 twisted, are found to be nearly as tough and durable as hemp. The numerous 

 islands of the Ohio and all the other western rivers are generally well 

 stocked with this tree. 



Yellow-billed Cuckoo, Cuculus carolinensis, Wils. Amer. Orn., vol. iv. p. 13. 

 Coccyzus Americanos, Bonap. Syn., p. 42. 



Yellow-billed Cuckoo, Coccyzus americanus, Nutt. Man., vol. i. p. 551. 

 Yellow-billed Cuckoo, Coccyzus americanus, Aud. Orn. Biog., vol. i. p. 18; vol. v. 

 p. 520. 



Male, 12-1, 16. Female, llf, 15£. 



Breeds from Texas to Nova Scotia, and throughout the interior to the 

 eastern bar of the Rocky Mountains. Common. Many spend the winter in 

 the Floridas. 



Adult Male. 



Bill as long as the head, compressed, slightly arched, acute, scarcely more 

 robust than in many Sylvise; upper mandible carinated above, its margins 

 acute and entire; lower mandible carinated beneath, acute. Nostrils basal, 

 lateral, linear-elliptical, half closed by a membrane. Feet short; tarsus 

 scutellate before and behind; toes two before, separated; two behind, one of 

 which is versatile, the sole flat; claws slender, compressed, arched. 



Plumage blended, slightly glossed. Wings long, the first quill short, the 



Vol. IV. 41 



