30 



YELLOW-BIL.LED CUCKOO— CRESTED TITMOUSE. 



tinguished from the male by a duller coloring of the plumage, es- 

 pecially by the color of the throat, which, as well as the line over 

 the eye, is, in her, of a loam-yellow color. The young of the first 

 year resemble the female in color and markings, but can be easily 

 distinguished by having their colors or markings more or less in- 

 distinct. The wing from its bend to its tip is four and a half inches, 

 and the tail two and a half inches long. 



PLATE XXVin. 



The Yellow-billed Cuckoo. (Coccygus Americanus.) 

 Fig. i. 



The Yellow-billed Cuckoo is also called the Caw Crow and Rain 

 Crow. The latter name is probably given it on account of its being 

 most noisy just before or after a shower of rain. The name Caw 

 Crow it takes from the peculiar sound of its voice, which strongly 

 resembles the words " caw, caw, caw." These it utters at first 

 slowly, increasing in rapidity until they seem to run into each 

 other. It is difficult to see the bird when he utters his " caw, caw, 

 caw," as he sits at such times perfectly still, the sound seeming to 

 come from a great distance. This Cuckoo is a solitary bird, but 

 not ver} r shy. He makes his appearance in Ohio, from the 

 South, in the latter part of April, but more regularly at the begin- 

 ning of May, and retires, after raising his young, about the mid- 

 dle of September, frequenting in the meantime the borders of sol- 

 itary swamps, hedges, or apple-orchards. The European Cuckoo 

 ( Cuculus Canorus) never constructs its own nest or rears its own 

 young, but simply drops its eggs into the nests of other birds, leav- 

 ing to others the task of hatching and bringing up the young 

 Cuckoos. It always drops but one egg into one and the same 

 nest. This practice has caused the whole tribe of Cuckoos to be 

 stigmatized as destitute of all parental affection. In truth, our 

 Yellow-billed Cuckoo is not entirely clear of this charge, though, 

 as a rule, it builds its own nest, hatches its own eggs, and rears 

 its own young ; yet sometimes an egg or a young one of this spe- 

 cies is found in the nest of another, as in that of a Robin Red- 

 breast or of a Brown Thrush. These birds which have to raise 

 the strange foundling, seem to be very fond of it, and bestow as 

 much parental care on it as on their own offspring. 



The Yellow-billed Cuckoo is nowhere rare, and for those well- 

 acquainted with its habits, it is not difficult to observe the bird. The 

 pairs generally settle in the dense forests, but single ones are fre- 

 quently found in the immediate neighborhood of human habita- 

 tions, chiefly in orchards, where they make themselves conspicuous 

 by their guttural " caw, caw, caw," which they utter almost in- 

 cessantly for hours, especially on damp, warm days, and sometimes 

 during the night. This Cuckoo is a regular slipper, but in no- 

 wise a runner. Among the branches of trees he moves like a 

 Titmouse with the greatest ease, seldom coming to the ground, and, 

 if he does so for a change, he moves about in an exceedingly awk- 

 ward manner, elevating his long tail high in the air. His flight 

 is swift and noiseless, rarely far extended, being interrupted by the 

 first tree. He seems to feel safer in the closely leaved crowns of 

 trees, and therefore does not like to expose himself by continuous 

 flight. While passing among the branches on a foraging tour, he 

 sometimes shows his upper and sometimes his under side. His 

 food consists of insects and fruits, such as butterflies, grasshoppers, 

 caterpillars, etc., and in the autumn, different kinds of berries. 

 There is a strong suspicion against him that he plunders the nests 

 of other small birds ; but although I have often closely watched 

 him, I have never caught him committing such an outrage. It is a 

 very remarkable fact of this bird that the female begins to sit as 

 soon as she has laid her first egg, and the consequence is that the 



young appear irregularly one after another, so that in the same 

 nest may sometimes be found eggs and half-fledged and full- 

 fledged young ones. This Cuckoo begins to pair in the early part 

 of May. This process is usually celebrated by obstinate battles 

 among the males. Soon after pairing, they begin to build their 

 nests. The nest is commonly placed among the horizontal branches 

 of an apple-tree; sometimes on a thorn, cedar, or other bush, 

 usually in a retired part of the wood. The nest is artlessly con- 

 structed, and has hardly any cavity at all. It is composed of fine 

 sticks and twigs, intermixed with weeds and fibers, and usually 

 with blossoms of the maple-tree. The eggs are generally four, 

 sometimes but three, and occasionally five. They are of a greenish- 

 blue color, and of a size proportioned to the size of the bird. The 

 male is usually near while the female is sitting, and gives the 

 alarm when an enemy approaches. While the female is sitting, 

 you can almost reach her with your hand ; but then she will sud- 

 denly precipitate herself to the ground, feigning lameness, flutter- 

 ing, trailing her wings — in fact, she will use all the tricks that 

 some other birds practice, as Quails, Woodcocks, and several 

 others. Both parents provide the food for the young. 



Notwithstanding his plain colors, the Yellow-billed Cuckoo is a 

 very handsome bird and of a fine shape. His whole upper parts 

 are of a dark glossy-drab, or of what we may call a Quaker hue, 

 with some greenish silken reflections ; to this the inner vanes 

 of the wing-feathers are exceptions, these being of a red- 

 dish cinnamon color. The tail is long, and usually consists of ten 

 feathers, sometimes of twelve — the two middle ones being longest, 

 and of the same drab color as the back, though a little darker 

 toward the tip; the others, which gradually shorten to the outer 

 ones, are black, largely tipped with white ; the two outer feathers 

 are hardly half as long as the middle ones. The whole lower 

 parts are white, excepting those of the fore part of the breast and 

 neck, which incline somewhat to a bluish-gray. The feathers 

 covering the thighs are prolonged like those of the Hawk tribe. 

 The legs and feet are of a light-blue color ; there are four toes, two 

 placed forward and two behind, as in all other Cuckoo birds. The 

 bill is rather long i.n proportion to the size of the bird, very broad 

 at the base and a little bent ; it is of a dusky-brown color above 

 and yellow below. The color of the iris is hazel, and the feathers 

 reach close to the eyelid, which is yellow. The female differs but 

 little from the male, except that the four middle feathers of the 

 tail are of that drab color and the white on her is not so pure, 

 while the grayish on the fore breast is darker and further extended. 



The Yellow-billed Cuckoo is entitled to protection, as he destroys 

 innumerable obnoxious larvae and insects, and is thus a benefactor 

 to the farmer and gardener. The inner membrane of the gizzard, 

 which in many other species is very hard and muscular, is in this 

 bird soft and lax, and therefore capable of great extension. It is 

 covered with a growth of fine hair of a fawn color, and is perhaps 

 intended by nature as a protection against the irritating effect, 

 which would otherwise be produced by swallowing hair-covered 

 caterpillars. 



The Crested Titmouse. (Lofi/iofi/ianes blcolor.) 



Fig. 2. 



This noisy bird often associates with the Black-capped Tit- 

 mouse, but is more suspicious and less active. Its notes are more 

 musical, and there is more variety in its tones. At times its voice 

 is not louder than the squeaking of a mouse, while at other times 

 the sounds are loud and clear, resembling the whistling for a dog. 

 It often keeps up its whistling for more than half an hour at a time, 

 while its high-pointed crest gives it a neat and elegant appearance. 

 Its food consists of all kinds of insects and their larvae, as well as 

 of small fruits and berries. As the muscles of its neck possess 

 considerable strength, it digs almost continually into acorns, nuts, 



