CUCKOOS AND SHRIKES IN THEIR RELATION TO 

 AGRICULTURE. 



THE FOOD OF CUCKOOS. 



By F. E. L. Bbal, B. S. 

 GENERAL NOTES. 



Cuckoos are quiet and rather shy birds. While they do not avoid 

 the haunts of man, they nevertheless have a way of concealing them- 



ITlG. 1. — Yello-w-billecl cuckoo. 



selves in foliage, seldom alighting on naked branches or in exposed 

 places, and hence are not often seen. Their favorite resorts are open 

 groves or woods, the edges of forests, orchards, and clumps of trees or 

 shrubs. They often visit shade trees about houses, and are frequently 

 heard in the trees along village streets or even in city- parks. In many 

 parts of the country they are known as ' Rain Crows ' or ' Kow-kows,' 

 the syllables Icow-lcoiv being an imitation of their notes. 



The cuckoo's nest is usually built in bushes or small trees at no great 

 height from the ground, and is a flimsy affair, composed of a few sticks, 

 forming a mere platform for the eggs, which vary in number from two 



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