70 
THK COXDOR 
Vol. XIII 
summary of my experience on the breeding grounds of the Cuckoo in Los 
Angeles County. 
The bird has always been one of particular interest to me, but for the first few 
years of my collecting I was never able to locate it or its nest. This I now attribute 
to the fact that it breeds late, after most of the other birds are through nesting, 
and that it seems to be, at least in this vicinity, extremely local in its distribution. 
It may be found breeding commonly in one grove of trees, while in another 
grove nearby, apparently offering the same advantages for nesting, it may be en- 
tirely absent. In the lower part of Los Angeles County, wuthin a few miles of the 
ocean, are numerous swampy places and river bottoms, which are surrounded by 
wfillow timber. Although much of this has been cut away of late years, there still 
remain some groves here and there, either uncut or second growth, and in these 
groves we found the Cuckoo at home. The grove in wdrich my brother and myself 
Fig. 30. NEST AND EGGS OF CALIFORNIA CUCKOO, NEAR LOS ANGELES, JULY 10, 1910 
have found the most nests and have had the best opportunity to observe the nest- 
ing habits is near the old town of Wilmington. 
Here the willow timber is mostly .second growth, and covers an area of per- 
haps forty acres. It is not as dense as in some groves, and the grass grows luxuri- 
antly affording good pasture for stock. In this grove several pairs of Cuckoos nest 
every summer. 
The birds generally begin nesting about the middle of June, but first sets of 
fresh eggs may be found as late as the middle of July. The earliest nesting date 
that I have is of a nest found May 10, 1901, which contained three newly hatched 
young of the Cuckoo and two badly incubated eggs of the Mourning Dove. The 
young Cuckoos were dead when found. The Dove was sitting at the time and the 
construction of the nest showed that it had been built by the Dove. The 
latest date was of a nest found August 7, 1910. This contained one fresh egg and 
was undoubtedly a second or third laying. 
