ST. DOMINGO CUCKOO. 
557 
ceding, also consists of hairy caterpillars, beetles, and 
other insects, and even minute shell-fish. They also, 
like many birds of other orders, swallow gravel to assist 
digestion. 
They usually retire into the woods to breed, being 
less familiar than the former, choosing an evergreen bush 
or sappling for the site of the nest, which is made of 
twigs, pretty well put together, but still little more than 
a concave flooring, and lined with moss occasionally, and 
withered catkins of the hickory. The eggs are smaller, 
and 3 to 5 in number, of a bluish-green. The female 
sits very close on the nest, admitting a near approach 
before flying ; the young, before acquiring their feathers, 
are of an uniform bright greyish-blue ; at a little distance 
from the nest the male keeps up the usual rattling call of 
koiv kow koiv Icoiv , the note increasing in loudness and quick- 
ness ; sometimes the call seems like Teh? hli* Ich’ kit’ y Ich 
’ kali , the notes growing louder and running together like 
those of the Yellow-winged Woodpecker. This species 
has also, before rain, a peculiar call, in a raucous guttural 
voice like orrattotoo , or worrattotoo. This species is 
less timorous than the Yellow-billed kind, and near the 
nest with young, 1 have observed the parent compos- 
edly sit and plume itself for a considerable time without 
showing any alarm at my presence. This bird is also 
equally addicted to the practice of sucking birds’ eggs. 
Indeed, one which I saw last summer, kept up for hours 
a constant watch after the eggs of a Robin sitting in 
an apple tree, who with her mate, kept up a running 
fight with the Cuckoo for two days in succession. 
The Black-billed species is about 12J inches long. The 2 central 
tail-feathers unspotted, the white terminal spots on the rest smaller 
and bordered with dusky. Inner lining, and inner webs of the wing 
quills, of a delicate cream-color. Wings pointed, the 1st primary 
very short, the 2d a little more than j an inch shorter than the 3d, 
