BIRDS OF DURHAM AND VICINITY. 
51 
Surnia ulula caparoch. American Hawk Owl. 377a. 
The Hawk Owl is an irregular winter visitant. One recently shot 
near Portsmouth was mounted by Mr. Turner, in whose possession I 
saw it. Another, owned by Mr. Wentworth 61" Dover, was killed 
near Piscataqua bridge. Thus it appears that while this owl is un- 
common here, it is not so rare as many suppose. 
Order COCCYGES. 
Family CUCULID^. 
Goccyzus americana. Yellow-billed Cuckoo. 387. 
The Yellow-billed Cuckoo is an irregular summer visitant. Mr. 
Shaw has taken it at Hampton, and I have found it once or twice in 
the central portion of the state. Its food is essentially the same as 
that of the next species. I have usually found it in swampy 
woods. Although the two species look very much alike, this may 
be identified when near at hand by the bill which is more than 
half yellow, and also by the tail which is black beneath, except the 
tip of each feather which is white. 
Goccyzus erythrophthalmus. Black-billed Cuckoo. 38S. 
This is the cuckoo commonly seen in our orchards and thickets. It 
comes from the south about the middle of May — in 1898 and 1899 I 
first saw it on the thirteenth, and in 1900 on the twentieth. Most of 
them go in September, though I have seen them as late as the fifth of 
October. The Cuckoo is a destroyer of caterpillars, and as such is 
worthy of all encouragement. In May and June I have often seen it 
in orchards engaged in its beneficent work. In September it leaves 
the thickets, where we are accustomed to see it in spring and summer, 
and goes to the oak and hickory trees where caterpillars of the genus 
Edema and others are found at that season. This is an evident 
change of haunt with a change of food supply. This cuckoo's nest is 
a slimsy structure of small sticks usually placed in a low pine or other 
scrubby tree. 
Family ALCEDINID^. 
Ceryle alcyon. Belted Kingfisher. 390. 
Oyster river is a famous hunting range for Kingfishers. Living as 
they do almost wholly upon fish, they are able to'find food so long as 
there is plenty of open water, and although the majority go south in 
