30 
THE CONDOR 
Vol. XITl 
approach. Most active in the early morning', its characteristic note, a lond, clear 
“kow-kow-kow, ” may be heard coming from some tree or group of trees, and 
perchance an answering “kow-kow-kow,” may come from another tree, some 
distance away. Wdien heard a few times, this note is easily imitated and is readily 
answered by the adnlts. Cantionsly approaching the tree from which the call has 
come, the bird may be seen sitting among the topmost branches, or as is far more 
likely, may be seen to dash forth and lly with a swift and graceful flight to another 
tree some distance away. Again may the tree be approached and again may the 
bird be seen to fly, but this time not to stop until well beyond reach, and only a 
distant “kow-kow-kow” comes floating back on the still morning air to let you 
know whence the bird has gone. 
After the birds retire to the willow bottoms to breed, their entire attitude 
changes. When watched and studied in the seclusion of their brush grown haunts, 
while engrossed with the cares of their domestic duties, the Cuckoos cease to be 
Fig. 14. haunts ok TIIK CAr.IKORNI.A CUCKOO, IX 
SONOMA COUNTY 
the wild, shy birds of the upland timber. The familiar “kow-kow-kow” is now 
forsaken for another note, a low guttural note, “kuk-kuk-kuk, ” always uttered by 
a brooding bird and is the most common call of the cnckoo during the breeding 
season. One other note they have, uttered like the foregoing, only during the 
nesting period. This note I have never been able to imitate. It has a wonder- 
fully ventrilociuistic power, and when heard at a distance of fifty yards, often seems 
to be half a mile or more aw'ay. When uttered, this particular call begins with the 
low “kuk-kuk” but gradually changes to more of the “kow-kow-kow” note, 
and, just before the end, closely resembles a dull, heavy drumming on a resonant 
limb. 
On the 2(')th of June, 1909, while hunting through a portion of the above 
mentioned lagoon, in search of belated nests of the Russet-backed Thrush, I found 
a nest of the California Cuckoo which was a very substantial structure, considering 
the inefficiency of Cuckoos in general, as nest builders. It was placed upon a 
