CUCKOOS. 
7 
American 
Cuckoos. 
sparrow in the stomach, and as the cuckoo is parasitic on this species it looks as 
though it sometimes devoured the eggs of the foster-parent to make room for 
its own. 
The American cuckoos, although of sober grey and brown shades 
of colouring, and resembling the true cuckoos in this respect, may 
always be distinguished by their oval and not rounded nostrils. They are grey or 
brown in colour, generally with an olive gloss, although two species have rufous 
backs. Except as regards their nesting-habits they are nearly allied to the cuckoos 
of the Old World. One of the best known species is the yellow-billed cuckoo 
{Coccyzus americanus), which is olive-brown in colour, with white tips to the tail- 
feathers ; the under-parts being white, and the inner side of the quills rufous. 
This cuckoo, together with its near ally, the black-billed cuckoo ( C. erythrojph- 
thalmus) is migratory to the United States in summer, the latter extending its 
breeding-ranges as far to the north as Manitoba and Labrador. Dr. Coues says 
that the w T ays of these cuckoos are shy and retiring. They are more often heard 
than seen, “ passing from one tree to another stealthily, with a rapid, gliding, 
noiseless flight, and they often rest motionless as statues for a long time, especially 
when crying out, or when they have detected a suspicious object. The peculiar 
notes of this bird, sounding like the syllables, koo-lcoo-koo, indefinitely repeated, are 
probably uttered more frequently during the atmospheric changes preceding falling 
weather, and have given rise to the name Rain-crow, by which both our species of 
Coccyzus are known to the vulgar.” He also says that they are great plunderers of 
the eggs of small birds, and are even said to devour the helpless nestlings. The nest 
is said to be like that of a crow, but poorly constructed. In connection with the 
supposition that our English cuckoo lays its eggs at intervals, it is interesting to 
know that the yellow-billed cuckoo undoubtedly does so, since in its nest there have 
been found fresh eggs and young in all stages, from the bird just hatched to the 
one able to fly, showing that there must be a considerable interval between the 
laying of each egg. Audubon gives an instance in which as many as eleven young- 
birds had been hatched in a season. The eggs are pale greenish in colour. 
Found only in the Indian and Australian regions, two species 
being peculiar to the former and four to the latter, the koels show a 
remarkable sexual difference in colour, the males being black, and the females 
rufous with black bands. In most birds, when the parents differ in plumage, the 
young at first resemble the hens, but in the instance of the koels the young of 
both sexes are black like the cocks. The koels may also be distinguished from 
the preceding genus by having a much rounder and stouter bill than in the preced¬ 
ing genera. The tail is long and wedge-shaped. Regarding the coloration of the 
young, Mr. Whitehead, writing of the Philippine koel, or phow {Eudynamis 
mindanensis), asks “ why should the young birds not follow the general rule, and 
take the plumage of the female, or have a plumage distinct from that of both 
parents ? The answer to this riddle appears to be that the phow lays its eggs 
in the nest of the yellow-wattled myna. The young cuckoo, being black, does 
not differ from the young myna, and so the deception is carried on until the young 
bird can take care of itself. If the young followed the general rule, and resembled 
their mother in being of a brown colour, the mynas might not feed them. The 
Koels. 
