294 
THE YELLOW-BILLED CUCKOO. 
has seen the perfect and beautiful forms of birds, quadrupeds or other objects, 
as they have come from the hand of Nature, discovers that the representa- 
tion is not that of living Nature ! But I am deviating from the track which 
I wish to follow, my desire being simply to give you an opportunity, good 
reader, of judging for yourself as to the truth of my delineations, and to 
present you with the results of my observations made in those very woods 
where the subjects have been found and depicted. 
The flight of the bird now before you is rapid, silent, and horizontal, as 
it moves from one tree to another, or across a field or river, and is generally 
continued amongst the branches of the trees in our woods. When making 
its way among the branches, it occasionally inclines the body to either side, 
so as alternately to shew its whole upper or under parts. During its south- 
ward migration, it flies high in the air, and in such loose flocks that the 
birds might seem to follow each other, instead of their keeping company 
together. On the other hand, early in March, the greater number enter our 
southern boundaries singly, the males arriving first, and the females a few 
weeks after. They do not fly in a continued line, but in a broad front, as, 
while travelling with great rapidity in a steamboat, so as to include a range 
of a hundred miles in one day, I have observed this Cuckoo crossing the 
Mississippi at many different points on the same day. At this season, they 
resort to the deepest shades of the forests, and intimate their presence by the 
frequent repetition of their dull and unmusical notes, which are not unlike 
those of the young bull-frog. These notes may be represented by the word 
coiv, cow, repeated eight or ten times with increasing rapidity. In fact, 
from the resemblance of its notes to that word, this Cuckoo is named Cow- 
bird in nearly every part of the Union. The Dutch farmers of Pennsyl- 
vania know it better by the name of Rain Crow , and in Louisiana the 
French settlers call it Coucou. 
It robs smaller birds of their eggs, Avhich it sucks on all occasions, and is 
cowardly and shy, without being vigilant. On this latter account, it often 
falls a prey to several species of Hawks, of which the Pigeon Hawk (Falco 
columbarius ) may be considered as its most dangerous 'enemy. It prefers 
the Southern States for its residence, and when very mild winters occur in 
Louisiana, some individuals remain there, not finding it necessary to go 
farther south. 
This bird is not abundant anywhere, and yet is found very far north. I 
have met with it in all the low grounds and damp places in Massachusetts, 
along the line of Upper Canada, pretty high on the Mississippi and Arkan- 
sas, and in every state between these boundary lines. Its appearance in the 
State of New York seldom takes place before the beginning of May, and at 
Green Bay not until the middle of that month. A pair here and there seem 
