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BIRDS OF NEW MEXICO 
CUCKOOS: Subfamily Cuculinae 
CALIFORNIA CUCKOO: Coccyzus americanus occidentals Ridgway 
Description. — Length: 12.3-13.5 inches, wing 5.5-6, tail 6.1-6.9, bill 1-1.1. 
Bill long and curved; tail long, rounded at tip. Adults: Upperparts grayish brown 
with faint green gloss; tail graduated, middle feathers like back, tipped with black, 
the rest blue-black tipped with broad white thumb marks; wing quills partly rufous; 
underparts white; iris dark brown, naked skin of orbital region gray, upper mandible 
black, basal two-thirds of lower mandible bright yellow. Young: Tail duller, white less 
extensive, the black not so pure, primaries and their coverts rufescent, naked skin 
of orbital region pale yellow. 
Range. —Breeds in Transition and Sonoran Zones from British Columbia and 
Colorado south to southern Texas, Tamaulipas, Chihuahua, and Lower California; 
migrates through Costa Rica; winter home probably in South America. 
State Records. —The breeding range of the California Cuckoo includes the whole 
of New Mexico, but it seems to be a rare bird in the State and generally confined to 
the lower altitudes, although it has been seen up to 8,000 feet (Ligon). One was 
seen May 24, 1004, at Rinconada, and one taken at Espanola June 22, 1904, both 
places about 6,000 feet (Surber). (It is rare about Santa Fe, but one was seen, June 
24,1918, at the San Juan Pueblo, a wounded one was found June 18,1919, and another 
bird June 5, 1922, at the Santa Fe Indian School (Jensen).1 It was breeding at Ros¬ 
well June 8-19, 1899 (Bailey); [observed rather commonly, June 1 and 2, 1924, at 
Artesia and Carlsbad (Ligon)J; and breeds at Mesilla (Merrill) and Elephant Butte 
(Ligon); a few were seen in summer at Forts Thorn and Fillmore on the Rio Grande 
(Henry); at Thornton June 30-July 1, 1900 (Jones). Most of these are, of course, 
breeding records. 
On dates which may represent early fall migration they were seen at Socorro 
about the middle of August, 1909 (Goldman); Carlsbad early August, 1910 (Dear¬ 
born), and September 2, 1901 (Bailey). The latest at Mesilla was September 7, 
1913 (Merrill). Many years ago a specimen was taken near Camp Burgwyn (Ridg¬ 
way) at about 7,000 feet altitude, but there is no date to indicate whether this was a 
breeding or migration record. 
In the spring, the earliest seen in 1913 near Beaver Lake, at 7,200 feet, was on 
May 22 (Ligon), and at Mesilla, May 28 (Merrill).— W. W. Cooke. 
Nest.— In willow or mesquite thickets, cedar, hackberry, oak or other trees, a 
loose platform of twigs sometimes fairly well lined with mesquite or willow leaves or 
oak blossoms. Eggs: Generally 3 or 4, light blue or greenish blue, unspotted. 
Food. —So largely hairy caterpillars that the inner coatings of the stomach are 
frequently completely furred. The contents of 110 stomachs of the Yellow-billed— 
of which the California is a subspecies—showed over 65 per cent caterpillars, over 14 
per cent grasshoppers, crickets, and katydids, and over 12 per cent bugs. Among 
the caterpillars the destructive cotton worm and apple tree caterpillars were found, 
the cotton worm in 34 stomachs. The bugs included the periodical cicadas, and 
others injurious to oranges, melons, squashes, and other crops. With no objection¬ 
able habits, the ^ ellow-billed is one of the valuable allies of the farmer, destroying 
many serious agricultural pests. 
General Habits. —In Carlsbad on September 1 and 2 we saw what 
seemed to be a family of the long, slender brown California Cuckoos 
in a mulberry hedge by a pasture; and as they flew back and forth the 
rufous on the wing was shown in the down stroke and a turn of the tail 
revealed the white thumb marks directively. One of the birds shot 
