84 



NORTH AMERICAN FAUNA 73 



Valley until the 1880's. Schorger (1955) described their distribution and 

 cited the last record at New Richmond, St. Croix County, on 28 September 

 1887. Roberts (1932) mentioned a "pigeon nesting" that was located be- 

 tween White Bear Lake and Taylors Falls in the late 1800 's. This location 

 may have been in either Chisago or Washington county. 



FAMILY CUCULIDAE: Cuckoos and Anis 



Yellow-billed Cuckoo (Coccyzus americanus) 

 Status: Regular migrant and nesting species. 



Migration: Uncommon migrant in the Western Upland, rare elsewhere. 

 Spring migrants begin to arrive between 15 and 20 May, and become well 

 distributed over the breeding range by 5 June. There is a general exodus of 

 fall migrants 15 August to 10 September, and the last birds depart by 

 20 September. 



Nesting Season Distribution: An uncommon nesting species in Pierce, St. 

 Croix, and Washington counties. Occasional summer records exist for north- 

 ern Polk and southern Burnett counties. Roberts (1932) mentioned summer 

 records for Pine County and observed that in northern areas this species 

 "seems to vary considerably in numbers, both as to locality and season." 



Habitat: A characteristic species of brushy margins, woodlot openings, 

 brushy fencerows, and field edges. Most breeding season adults that I ob- 

 served were associated with medium-aged stands of Southern Deciduous 

 Forest; red oak and Hill's oak were the predominant vegetation type. 



Black-billed Cuckoo (Coccyzus erythropthalmus) 

 Status: Regular migrant and nesting species. 



Migration: Uncommon spring and fall migrant throughout the Valley. 

 Spring migrants arrive in the Western Upland between 5 and 10 May, be- 

 coming most numerous during the last 2 weeks of May. Night migrants are 

 frequently heard during the first week of June (S. D. Robbins, personal com- 

 munication). Arrival in the Northern Highland occurs 15-20 May. Peak fall 

 abundance occurs between 1 and 10 September and departure by 25 Sep- 

 tember. 



Nesting Season Distribution: A fairly common nesting species throughout 

 the Valley, although more common in the Central Plain and Northern High- 

 land. Roberts (1938) reported that "a dozen" black-billed cuckoo nests were 

 found during June 1926 in Chisago County. 



Habitat: Brushy margins of mature Northern Deciduous Forest, Deciduous 

 Clear Cuts, and mixed coniferous-deciduous forest. 



Groove-billed Ani {Crotophaga sulcirostris) 

 Status: Accidental, one record. 



