YELLOW-BILLED CUCKOO. 
161 
on the species, I will only remark, that the bird now before us buihls its 
own nest, hatches its own eggs, and rears its own young ; and in conju- 
gal and parental affection seems nowise behind any of its neighbors of 
the grove. 
Early in May they begin to pair, Avhen obstinate battles take place 
among the males. About the tenth of that month they commence 
building. The nest is usually fixed among the horizontal branches of an 
apple-tree ; sometimes in a solitary thorn, crab or cedar, in some retired 
part of the woods. It is constructed with little art, and scarcely any 
concavity, of small sticks and twigs, intermixed with green weeds, and 
blossoms of the common maple. On this almost flat bed, the eggs, 
usually three or four in number, are placed ; these are of a uniform 
greenish blue color, and of a size proportionable to that of the bird. 
While the female is sitting, the male is generally not far distant, and 
gives the alarm by his notes, when any person is approaching. The 
female sits so close, that you may almost reach her Avith your hand, and 
then precipitates herself to the ground, feigning lameness, to draw you 
away from the spot, fluttering, trailing her wings, and tumbling over, in 
the manner of the Partridge, Woodcock, and many other species. Both 
parents unite in providing food for the young. This consists for the 
most part of caterpillars, particularly such as infest apple-trees. The 
same insects constitute the chief part of their own sustenance. They 
are accused, and with some justice, of sucking the eggs of other birds, 
like the Crow, the Blue Jay, and other pillagers. They also occasion- 
ally eat various kinds of berries. But from the circumstance of destroy- 
ing such numbers of very noxious larvte, they prove themselves the 
friends of the farmer, and are highly deserving of his protection. 
The Yellow-billed Cuckoo is thirteen inches long, and sixteen inches 
in extent ; the whole upper parts are of a dark glossy drab, or what is 
usually called a Quaker color, with greenish silky reflections ; from this 
must however be excepted, the inner vanes of the wings, Avhicli are bright 
reddish cinnamon ; the tail is long, composed of ten feathers, the two 
middle ones being of the same color as the back, the others Avhich gra- 
dually shorten to the exterior ones, are black, largely tipped Avith Avhite ; 
the tW'O outer ones are scarcely half the length of the middle one ; the 
whole lower parts are pure Avhite ; the feathers covering the thighs being 
large like those of the HaAvk tribe ; the legs and feet are light blue, the 
toes placed tAvo before, and tAvo behind, as in the rest of the genus ; the 
bill is long, a little bent, very broad at the base, dusky black above, and 
yellow beloAV ; the eye hazel, feathered close to the eyelid, which is yel- 
low. The female differs little from the male ; the four middle tail- 
feathers in her are of the same uniform drab ; and the white, Avith which 
the others are tipped, not so pure as in the male. 
In examining this bird by dissection, the inner membrane of the giz- 
VOL. I.— 11 
