3 ° 
allkn’s naturalist’s library. 
herself takes any interest in the future welfare of the egg she 
has foisted on her victim, or of its product, there is no evi- 
dence worth a moment’s attention.” It is certain that the 
young Cuckoos are left to find their way south in the autumn 
entirely by themselves, the old birds having left long before, 
and in the British Museum are three birds shot by myself on 
the same day within a quarter of a mile of the same spot, which 
must have been migrating south in company. 
The food of the Cuckoo appears to consist entirely of in- 
sects, and it is a true friend of the farmer and gardener, espe- 
cially as it is believed to be the only kind which devours the 
larvfe of the Tiger-Afoth — the “Woolly Bear,” as it is generally 
called. Most birds decline to eat this creature, but the 
stomach of the Cuckoo has been found completely lined with 
the hairs from off this caterpill.ar’s body. 
Nest— None; the bird being parasitic. 
Egg3. — Variable to an extraordinary degree, as described 
above. 
THE AMERICAN CUCKOOS. GENUS COCCYZUS. 
Coccyeus, Vieill. Analyse, p. 28 (1816). 
Ty|ie, C. americamis (L.). 
The American Cuckoos have much the same form as the 
ordinary True Cuckoos of the Old World, but are rather plainer 
in colour, without bars on the under surface of the body, and 
have the nostril oval in shape. They also make nests, and are 
not parasitic, as far as is known. 
Two species h.ave wandered to Europe, but they can only be 
regarded as occasional visitors, of accidental occurrence. 
The members of the genus Coccyms occur throughout the 
greater part of the New World, visiting the temperate regions 
of North America in summer, and occurring throughout tro- 
pical America as far south as the Argentine Republic, but not 
visiting the extreme south of the South Americ.an continent. 
1. THE YELLOW-BILLED CUCKOO. COCCYZUS AMERICANUS. 
Cuculus americamis, Linn. S. N. i. p. 170 (1766). 
