Chapter C: J. Maynard (1896) says (3)

The first picture was made at nine o’clock. * * * This
shows the young by the unhatched egg; the horny, sheathed
feathers were fully two inches long, making the bird look
like a porcupine. About ten-thirty the sheaths began to
burst, and with each split a fully formed feather was
liberated. This process took place with such rapidity that
it reminded me of the commotion in a corn popper or a
rapidly blooming flower. All the while I was within three
feet of the bird, and could see every new feather, as it
blossomed, so to speak.

At three p. m., six hours after the first picture was
taken, I made another photograph, showing this same bird in
the full plumage of a Cuckoo, except the long tail.

In this first plumage the young cuckoo looks very much like the adult, perhaps slightly paler above and with a slight wash of tawny or pale buff on the throat and breast; but the tail is quite different, lacking the conspicuous black and white markings so prominent on the sides of the adult tail; in the young bird the dark spaces in the tail are not black, but dark gray or lighter gray, variable in different individuals or in different feathers in the same individual; the light spaces are not so sharply defined as in the adult and are grayish white instead of pure white.

The juvenal body plumage appears to be molted in fall, from August to October; but the juvenal wings and tail are worn through the first winter at least; I have not been able to detect this plumage in spring birds, so I suppose that a more or less complete molt occurs while the birds are in their winter homes, producing a practically adult plumage before they return in the spring. Adults have a complete molt between July and October, and possibly a more or less complete molt in spring before they arrive here, but winter specimens to show it are lacking.

_Food._--Cuckoos are among the most useful of our birds, mainly because of their fondness for caterpillars, which are some of our most injurious insect pests and which constitute the principal food of these birds during their seasons of abundance. Edward H. Forbush (1907) writes:

The Cuckoos are of the greatest service to the farmer,
by reason of their well-known fondness for caterpillars,
particularly the hairy species. No caterpillars are safe
from the Cuckoo. It does not matter how hairy or spiny they
are, or how well they may be protected by webs. Often the
stomach of the Cuckoo will be found lined with a felted
mass of caterpillar hairs, and sometimes its intestines
are pierced by the spines of the noxious caterpillars that
it has swallowed. Wherever caterpillar outbreaks occur
we hear the calls of the Cuckoos. There they stay; there
they bring their newly fledged young; and the number
of caterpillars they eat is incredible. Professor Beal
states that two thousand, seven hundred and seventy-one
caterpillars were found in the stomachs of one hundred and
twenty-one Cuckoos--an average of more than twenty-one
each. Dr. Otto Lugger found several hundred small hairy
caterpillars in the stomach of a single bird. The
poisonous, spined caterpillars of the Io moth, the almost
equally disagreeable caterpillars of the brown-tail moth,
and the spiny elm caterpillar, are eaten with avidity.

He says elsewhere (1927):

When, in time, the inside of the bird’s stomach becomes so
felted with a mass of hairs and spines that it obstructs
digestion, the bird can shed the entire stomach-lining,
meanwhile growing a new one. * * * Mr. Mosher, a competent
observer, watched a Yellow-billed Cuckoo eat 41 gypsy
caterpillars in fifteen minutes, and later he saw another
consume 47 forest tent caterpillars in six minutes. * * *
Dr. Amos W. Butler [1897] says that he has known these
Cuckoos to destroy every tent caterpillar in a badly
infested orchard and tear up all the nests in half a day.
This species frequently feeds on or near the ground, and
there gets an enormous number of locusts and other pests.
In summer and autumn it feeds to some extent on small wild
fruits, such as the raspberry, blackberry and wild grape.

The fall webworm is a destructive pest on certain trees, but few birds will eat it. Dr. Sylvester D. Judd (1902) noted that, on a Maryland farm, “a pair of yellow-billed cuckoos continually extracted them from the webs. The destruction of this insect is an habitual practice with the cuckoo. In a single stomach of the species examined by Professor Beal there were 325 of the larvæ.”

Henry C. Denslow writes to me that he fed many hairy caterpillars to a cuckoo that he had in captivity, and says: “Many of these this bird sheared the hairs from by slowly moving them from end to end through its beak by a side-shifting motion of the mandibles. The removed hairs collected in a little bunch and, at the end of the caterpillar, fell to the floor. Most of the hairs were thus shorn from these caterpillars. Other caterpillars were swallowed entire, as I gave them to him, hairs and all.”

Walter B. Barrows (1912) says that this cuckoo feeds freely on elderberries and mulberries and that “large quantities of beetles and bugs also are consumed, and both species of cuckoo seem to be very fond of grasshoppers, eating especially such forms as frequent shrubbery and trees, among these the destructive tree crickets (_Oecanthus_). Ten specimens examined by Professor Aughey, in Nebraska, contained 416 locusts and grasshoppers, and 152 other insects.”

Audubon (1842) writes: “In autumn they eat many grapes, and I have seen them supporting themselves by a momentary motion of their wings opposite a bunch, as if selecting the ripest, when they would seize it and return to a branch, repeating their visits in this manner until satiated.”

In addition to those mentioned above, yellow-billed cuckoos have been known to eat many other insects, such as armyworms, ants, wasps, flies, and dragonflies. Several of the earlier ornithologists accused this cuckoo of eating the eggs of other small birds and produced some evidence of the bad habit, but some modern observers seem to think that they do very little, if any, nest robbing. C. J. Maynard (1896) writes:

This species in company with the former [black-billed
cuckoo] are the terror of other small birds during the
nesting season for they will constantly rob their nests.
I have frequently seen a Cuckoo enter a thicket in which
a Robin or a Cat Bird had built a home and in a moment
the air would resound with the shrill cries of distress
given by the parents, causing all the small birds in the
immediate vicinity to rush to the spot and as each joins
in the outcry, the noise produced is apparently enough to
frighten away a bolder bird than a Cuckoo.

But in spite of all this din, the glossy thief nearly
always succeeds in accomplishing his purpose and emerges
from the thicket, carrying an egg impaled on his beak.
He does not always escape unscathed, however, for he is
pursued by a motley crowd consisting of Robins, Cat Birds,
Thrushes, Warblers, etc. that follow him closely, harassing
him on all sides, and some of the more courageous will
even assault him with blows from their beaks so that he
frequently leaves some of his feathers floating in the
wind behind him. As the long and broad tail of the Cuckoo
is a prominent object and as it is also a portion of the
bird which its enemies can seize with comparative safety
to themselves, this member often suffers in these forays,
in so much, that by the middle of summer, it is quite
difficult to find a Cuckoo of either species which has a
full complement of tail feathers.

On the other hand, Major Bendire (1895) says: “I am aware that this species has been accused of destroying the eggs and even of eating the young of smaller birds, but I am strongly inclined to believe that this accusation is unjust, and in my opinion requires more substantial confirmation. I have never yet had any reason to suspect their robbing smaller birds’ nests, and the very fact that they live in apparent harmony with such neighbors, who do not protest against their presence, as they are in the habit of doing should a Blue Jay, Grackle, or Crow come too close to their nests, seems to confirm this view.”

But then he goes on to quote from a letter from William Brewster, who says: “While I have never seen either of our Cuckoos destroy the eggs of other birds, nevertheless I think they do it occasionally. One of my reasons for this belief is that many of our small birds, Warblers, Sparrows, etc., show great anxiety whenever the Cuckoos approach their nests, and they pursue and peck at them, when they take wing, behaving toward them, in fact, exactly as they do toward the Crows, Jays, and Grackles, which we know eat eggs whenever they can get a chance. My other reason is that one of my friends once shot a Cuckoo (_C. americanus_, I think it was) whose bill was smeared all over with the fresh yolk of an egg.”

Yellow-billed cuckoos sometimes eat tree frogs and other small frogs, and, in the Southern States, an occasional small lizard. Marcia B. Clay (1929) relates the following incident: “For an hour a Cuckoo searched about the dead under limbs of a huge untrimmed apple tree, peering and gliding noiselessly around and around. At last, after long and patient search, it dashed to the ground and began to walk directly toward me through the scant grass and weeds, and only then did I see a frog trying to slip away unseen. The bird followed the frog a rod, pecking its victim and gloating softly _Cuk, Cuk_. Having vanquished its prey, the Cuckoo deftly gathered it into its bill and flew away, the frog’s legs sticking out stiff and straight together, exactly like the dead twigs which the Cuckoo carries to its nest.”

_Behavior._--Mr. Forbush (1927) has described the quiet, retiring behavior of the yellow-billed cuckoo very well as follows:

The cuckoo is a graceful, elegant bird, calm and
unperturbed; it slips quietly and rather furtively through
its favorite tangles and flies easily from tree to tree in
the orchard, keeping for the most part under protection of
the leaves, which furnish excellent cover for its bronzy,
upper plumage, while the shadows of the foliage tend to
conceal the whiteness of its under parts. It has a way also
of keeping its back with its greenish satiny reflections
toward the intruder in its solitudes, and while holding
an attitude of readiness for flight it sits motionless,
and its plumage so blends with its leafy environment that
it does not ordinarily catch the eye. In the meantime it
turns its head and regards the disturber with a cool,
reserved, direct gaze, looking back over its shoulder,
apparently unafraid and giving no indication of nervousness
or even undue curiosity; but if the observer approaches too
closely, the elegant bird slips quietly away, vanishing
into some leafy, cool retreat where it may enjoy the
silence and solitude, dear to the woodland recluse.

The flight of the cuckoo is rather swift, easy and graceful, exceedingly direct and horizontal, but turning frequently from side to side as it threads its way through the branches of the trees, giving occasional glimpses of its white under parts and the telltale black-and-white markings in its tail; it is stream-lined to perfection and glides noiselessly through the air with its long tail streaming out behind. It is very quiet in its movements in its shady retreats; it seldom perches in a conspicuous place but sits motionless for long periods in the dense foliage, watching, or moves about stealthily in search of its prey. It might easily be overlooked, were it not for its characteristic notes, which lead the observer to look for it.

About its nest it is rather shy, while incubating on its eggs, slipping away cautiously when approached, but when there are young in the nest its behavior is quite different. It then becomes quite solicitous and will often remain on the nest until almost touched, and then perhaps throw itself down to the ground, fluttering and tumbling along, feigning lameness, after the manner of many ground-nesting birds, uttering loud, guttural cries of distress.

_Voice._--We hear the voice of the cuckoo much oftener than we see the bird; the well-known sound comes to us, like a wandering voice, from the depths of some shady retreat, but we cannot see the hidden author. We can recognize it easily as the voice of a cuckoo, but it is not always so easy to identify the species by its notes, though some keen observers claim that they can do so. Certain songs are characteristic of each of the two species, but both have a great variety of notes and many notes that are much alike in both. The notes of the yellow-billed cuckoo may be a trifle harsher and a little louder, but they are not always recognizable. The characteristic note of the yellow-billed cuckoo is well described by Charles J. Spiker (1935) as follows: “What may be considered the song of this species is a series of rapid, wooden-sounding syllables resembling the following: _Kuk-kuk-kuk-kuk-kuk-ceaow-ceaow-ceaow-ceaow_; the _kuks_ being given rapidly, the _ceaows_ more deliberately and with longer intervals.”

Bendire (1895) writes:

One of their commonest notes is a low “noo-coo-coo-coo;”
another sounds more like “cow-cow-cow” or “kow-kow-kow,”
several times repeated; others resemble the syllables of
“ough, ough, ough,” slowly and softly uttered; some remind
me of the “kloop-kloop” of the Bittern; occasionally a note
something like the “kiuh-kiuh-kiuh” of the Flicker is also
uttered; a low sharp “tou-wity-whit” and “hweet hwee” is
also heard during the nesting season. Though ordinarily not
what might be called a social bird, I have sometimes during
the mating season seen as many as eight in the same tree,
and on such occasions they indulge in quite a number of
calls, and if the listener can only keep still long enough
he has an excellent opportunity to hear a regular Cuckoo
concert.

Various other interpretations of the different notes have been given by other writers, but the above quotations cover fairly well the ordinary variations. The song, as given by Mr. Spiker above, is sometimes more prolonged by lengthening the series of _kuks_, with increasing speed of utterance and adding to the series of _ceaows_, with slowly decreasing speed. I believe that the black-billed cuckoo never gives this prolonged song, accelerated during the first half and retarded during the last half; its song is given in more even time, and is generally shorter. The song of the yellow-billed cuckoo is often heard during the night, and its notes are often uttered while flying.

_Field marks._--A cuckoo may be easily recognized as a cuckoo by its size, shape, and color--a long, slender bird, longer than a robin, with a long tail, olive-brown above and white below; but the two species look very much alike unless the distinctive markings can be clearly seen. The yellow lower mandible of this species can be seen only at short range. But the rufous in the wing feathers is evident in flight, and the lateral tail feathers are conspicuously black, with large terminal white areas clearly defined. At very close range the yellow eyelids of this species may be seen.

DISTRIBUTION

_Range._--Temperate North America, the Caribbean region, South and Central America; casual on Bermuda and accidental in western Europe.

_Breeding range._--The breeding range of the yellow-billed cuckoo extends =north= to southern British Columbia (Kamloops); northeastern Oregon (Keenys Ferry); northern Utah (Salt Lake City); northern Colorado (Loveland, Greeley, and Fort Morgan); South Dakota (White River, Yankton, and Sioux Falls); Minnesota (Fosston and St. Paul); Wisconsin (Ladysmith, Waupaca, and New London); northern Michigan (Blaney and Sault Ste. Marie); southern Ontario (Listowel, Rosseau, and Ottawa); northern New York (Watertown and Plattsburg); and southern Maine (Auburn). From this point the breeding range extends southward along the Atlantic coast to Florida (New Smyrna and Kissimmee); the Bahama Islands (Inagua Island); probably the Dominican Republic (Dajabon); and the Virgin Islands (St. Croix). =South= to the Virgin Islands (St. Croix); Jamaica (Port Henderson); Coahuila (Sabinas River); southern Sonora (Guaymas); and southern Baja California (San Jose del Rancho). =West= to Baja California (San Jose del Rancho and Cerro Prieto); California (Wilmington, Watsonville, Santa Clara, and Redding); Oregon (Salem); Washington (Grays Harbor, Tacoma, and Seattle); and British Columbia (Victoria, Chilliwack, and Kamloops).

The range as outlined is for the entire species, which has been separated into two geographic races. The yellow-billed cuckoo (_C. a. americanus_) occupies the eastern part of the range west to South Dakota, Nebraska, eastern Colorado, and Oklahoma, while the California cuckoo (_C. a. occidentalis_) is found over the rest of the country to the Pacific coast.

_Winter range._--The winter home of this species has not been accurately determined, but it extends =north= to northern Colombia (Santa Marta, Bonda, Medellin, and Antioquia); and Venezuela (San Cristobal, Altagracia, the Orinoco River region, and Nericagua). It has been found at this season =east= to southeastern Brazil (São Paulo); Uruguay (Rio Negro); and eastern Argentina (Buenos Aires and Lomas de Zamora). =South=, probably only casually to central Argentina (Lomas de Zamora and Saladillo). =West= to Argentina (Saladillo and La Riojo); Ecuador (Nono, Chimbo, Cumbaya, and Guapulo); and Colombia (Cienaga and Santa Marta).

_Spring migration._--Early dates of spring arrival are: Florida--Melrose, March 12; Daytona Beach, April 9; Pensacola, April 13. Alabama--Autaugaville, April 16. Georgia--Savannah, March 24; Kirkwood, April 7. South Carolina--Charleston, April 14. North Carolina--Raleigh, April 25; Weaverville, May 1. Virginia--Lawrenceville, April 23; New Market, April 26. District of Columbia--Washington, April 27. Pennsylvania--Philadelphia, April 20; Beaver, May 6; Renovo, May 11. New Jersey--Morristown, April 7; Elizabeth, May 9. New York--Shelter Island, May 2; Rhinebeck, May 3; Watertown, May 12. Connecticut--Hartford, May 9; Jewett City, May 10. Rhode Island--Providence, May 11. Massachusetts--Boston, May 4; Beverly, May 15. New Hampshire-- Milford, May 11. Vermont--St. Johnsbury, May 27. Maine--Lewiston, May 6; Fryeburg, May 19. Mississippi--Biloxi, April 6; Rodney, April 8; Oakvale, April 10. Arkansas--Helena, April 19; Delight, April 24. Tennessee--Chattanooga, April 10; Knoxville, April 27. Kentucky--Eubank, April 22; Bowling Green, April 24. Missouri--St. Louis, April 28; Kansas City, April 30; Concordia, May 1. Illinois--Rantoul, May 2; Chicago, May 4; Olney, May 5. Indiana--Terre Haute, April 17; Fort Wayne, April 29; Waterloo, May 4. Ohio--Oberlin, April 26; Columbus, April 29; Youngstown, May 7. Michigan--Detroit, May 4; Battle Creek, May 11. Ontario--London, May 8; Guelph, May 12. Iowa--Sioux City, April 30; Grinnell, May 9. Wisconsin--Madison, May 10; Racine, May 10; La Crosse, May 12. Minnesota--Minneapolis, May 6; Winona, May 8. Texas--Fredericksburg, April 1; Kerrville, April 7; San Antonio, April 14. Oklahoma-- Skiatook, April 20; Oklahoma City, May 3. Kansas--Ottawa, April 25; Onaga, April 28. Nebraska--Red Cloud, April 29; Lincoln, May 7. South Dakota--Vermillion, May 17. New Mexico--State College, May 25. Arizona--Phoenix, May 1; Tombstone, May 20. Colorado--Longmont, May 20; Denver, May 28. California--Petaluma, April 18; Pico, May 5; Berryessa, May 13. Oregon--Sauvies Island, April 24. Washington--Tacoma, May 3.

_Fall migration._--Late dates of fall departure are: California-- Murphys, September 1; Vineland, September 22. Colorado--Yuma, September 3; Clear Creek, September 8. Arizona--Tucson, September 8. New Mexico--Mesilla Park, September 7; State College, September 18. North Dakota--Grafton, September 4. South Dakota--Lennox, September 15; Yankton, September 24. Nebraska--Dunbar, September 27; Lincoln, October 5. Kansas--Onaga, October 1. Oklahoma--Copan, September 23; Kenton, September 30. Texas--Bonham, September 25; Swan, September 28; Kerrville, October 19. Minnesota--Minneapolis, October 1; Hastings, October 20. Wisconsin--Madison, September 27; Racine, October 6. Iowa--Grinnell, October 22. Ontario--Galt, October 2; London, October 11; Point Pelee, October 16. Michigan--Detroit, October 8. Ohio--Youngstown, October 12; Columbus, October 19; Oberlin, October 21. Indiana--Sedan, October 13. Illinois--Chicago, October 18; Rantoul, October 24. Missouri--Concordia, October 10. Kentucky--Lexington, October 10. Tennessee--Nashville, October 11. Arkansas--Delight, October 20. Mississippi--Biloxi, October 11. Maine--Fryeburg, September 1. Vermont--St. Johnsbury, September 12. Massachusetts--Marthas Vineyard, September 24; Lanesborough, September 29; Hadley, October 18. Connecticut--Meriden, October 12; New Haven, October 16; Portland, October 17. New York--Rhinebeck, October 1; New York City, October 12. New Jersey--Morristown, October 9; Elizabeth, October 12. Pennsylvania--Beaver, September 27; Philadelphia, October 17; Renovo, November 12. District of Columbia--Washington, October 13. Virginia--Lawrenceville, October 12. North Carolina--Raleigh, October 17. South Carolina--Mount Pleasant, November 7. Georgia--Savannah, October 19. Florida-- Pensacola, November 2.

_Casual records._--While the yellow-billed cuckoo may be considered only as a casual visitor to Bermuda, an extraordinary invasion was recorded on October 9, 1849, when thousands of individuals suddenly appeared in all parts of the island; a few more have been subsequently reported. During the period from 1825 to 1921 it was recorded fully a dozen times from England, Scotland, Ireland, and Wales, all these occurrences being in fall and mostly during October. One was taken at Bois de Lessines, Belgium, in October 1874, and one was collected at Turin, Italy, on October 28, 1883. Two occurrences have been recorded from the southern part of France, but there is some question that they were correctly identified.

_Egg dates._--Arizona: 13 records, June 28 to August 24; 7 records, July 19 to August 22.

California: 55 records, May 15 to August 20; 28 records, June 17 to July 10, indicating the height of the season.

Florida: 19 records, April 12 to August 25; 10 records, April 16 to May 16.

Illinois: 39 records, May 20 to July 19; 20 records, June 4 to 26.

New York: 23 records, May 24 to August 19; 12 records, June 4 to 11.

Pennsylvania: 13 records, June 6 to July 29.

Texas: 34 records, March 22 to June 30; 17 records, May 6 to June 5.

COCCYZUS AMERICANUS OCCIDENTALIS Ridgway

CALIFORNIA CUCKOO

PLATE 6

HABITS

This western race of our common yellow-billed cuckoo has been separated on very slight average characters, hardly worthy of recognition in nomenclature. I am inclined to agree with Harry S. Swarth (1929), who says:

Between the eastern and western races of the Yellow-billed
Cuckoo there is a slight average difference in size,
the western bird being the larger and with a somewhat
heavier bill. There is a rather wide range of variation
in specimens from any one locality, * * * and the largest
eastern birds do not fall far short of the maximum
measurements of western specimens. Birds from the Pacific
coast are the largest, those from central Arizona near the
type locality of _occidentalis_ (the Santa Rita Mountains)
are intermediate in size. The subspecies would have a
better claim to recognition if restricted to the Pacific
coast. * * * The subspecies is certainly as slightly
differentiated as any in our _Check-list_, and I feel that
no violence to the facts would result from suppression of
the name.

The California cuckoo is nowhere abundant but seems to be generally distributed, in suitable localities, throughout its range from British Columbia to Lower California and other parts of Mexico. In southern California, its favorite haunts seem to be the willow thickets and groves along the beds of streams, or in willow-bottom sloughs, such as the famous Nigger Slough, which formerly existed near Los Angeles. Alfred C. Shelton (1911) describes a favorite haunt in Sonoma County, Calif., as follows: “In the locality of which I write, about five miles southeast of Sabastopol, this stream, known locally as the ‘Lagoon’, becomes, after some winter storm, a turbulent river, flooding acres upon acres of bottom land. In summer its course is marked by a chain of long, rather narrow ponds, many of which are deep. The banks, and much of the intervening space between these ponds, are covered with a thick growth of willow, small ash and scrub oak, while the whole is tangled together with an undergrowth of poison oak, wild blackberry and various creepers, forming, as it were, an impenetrable jungle, hanging far out over the water.”

_Spring._--Mr. Shelton (1911) has this to say about the spring movements of the California cuckoo:

Of all migratory birds breeding in this vicinity, the
Cuckoo is the last to arrive in the spring, usually
appearing during the latter part of May or the first week
of June. Upon its arrival, this bird keeps to the higher
land, among the oaks and other timber, for a period of
two or three weeks before retiring to the willow bottoms
to breed. During this period it is wild and shy and
difficult to approach. Most active in the early morning,
its characteristic note, a loud, clear “kow-kow-kow,” may
be heard coming from some tree or group of trees, and
perchance an answering “kow-kow-kow,” may come from another
tree, some distance away. * * *

After the birds retire to the willow bottoms to breed,
their entire attitude changes. When watched and studied in
the seclusion of their brush grown haunts, while engrossed
with the cares of their domestic duties, the Cuckoos
cease to be the wild, shy birds of the upland timber. The
familiar “kow-kow-kow” is now forsaken for another note,
a low guttural note, “kuk-kuk-kuk,” always uttered by a
brooding bird and is the most common call of the cuckoo
during the breeding season.

_Courtship._--J. H. Bowles (Dawson and Bowles, 1909) writes: “While standing in an open woodland listening to a pair of Cuckoos calling to each other, I saw the male suddenly fly past with a large green worm in his bill. He flew directly to the female, who was perched in a tree a few yards distant, and for a moment or two they sat motionless a few inches apart looking at each other. The male then hovered lightly over his mate and, settling gently upon her shoulders, gracefully bent over and placed the worm in her bill. It was a pretty and daintily performed piece of love-making.”

_Nesting._--The nesting habits of the California cuckoo are much like those of its eastern relative. In California its favorite nesting sites are in willow thickets in the river bottoms, or in such swampy lowlands as those referred to above. D. E. Brown writes to me that it is a rare bird in western Washington, and says: “It is found mostly in willow swamps, on the shores of fresh-water lakes, and along streams where the underbrush is thick. I have seldom seen it very far away from fresh water and never in real thick woods. It is a late arrival and does not begin nest building until about the fourth of July. I have found about a dozen occupied nests and only one of these was earlier than the above date; this one was on June 19. All these nests were in willow or wild-rose bushes, except one which was in a spirea bush. All nests were 2 to 8 feet from the ground, or water when built in swamps. The nest is a very frail, small affair composed of twigs loosely put together and lined with finer twigs and sometimes a few leaves. Most of the nests that I have seen have been so very flat and small that they would be exceedingly hard to find if the birds were not on them.”

A nest in the Thayer collection, taken near Kirkland, Wash., on July 7, 1909, was found in an open space in a fir forest in low ground, which was dotted with a second growth of fir and some _Osmaronia_ and _Spiraea_; it was placed on a branch of a fir on the exposed side of the tree, 9 feet from the ground; it was made of old fir twigs and lined with fresh fir twigs. I have heard of other Washington nests in fir trees.

Major Bendire (1895) says:

The nests here [Arizona] were placed in willow or mesquite
thickets, from 10 to 15 feet from the ground, and they were
usually fairly well concealed by the surrounding foliage.
* * * If the California Cuckoo showed the same parasitic
habit of occasionally depositing one or more of its eggs in
the nests of other birds, as its eastern relatives are now
and then known to do, I believe that I should have observed
the fact in southern Arizona. Here I found eight of their
nests with eggs, and fully five hundred nests of smaller
birds, which nested in similar localities among the willow
thickets and mesquite bushes, overrun with vines, in the
creek bottoms, but not a single instance of parasitism came
under my observation.

Wilson C. Hanna (1937) has published an interesting paper on the nesting habits of the California cuckoo in the San Bernardino Valley, Calif., with a photograph of a nest containing the unusual number of seven eggs; he writes:

I have rather complete notes on twenty-four nests that
I have examined in the field, six along Warm Creek and
eighteen along the Santa Ana River, and with two exceptions
all were in willow trees. In one case the nest was 11 feet
up in an alder tree next to the trunk, and in the other
case 30 feet up in a cottonwood tree on top of a bare limb
partly supported by a few twigs and therefore conspicuous.
The last mentioned nest was ten feet higher than any
other nest I have seen. Six of the nests in willows were
either partly supported by or covered with wild grape
vines, another nest was well concealed in the center of
live mistletoe, while still another was well hidden in
poison oak that was growing over the dead willow tree. A
few nests were placed next to the trunks of trees, but by
far the most common location was well out on a horizontal
or leaning limb. The average height above ground or water
was less than thirteen feet and two were only four feet
up. A good supply of rope and a ladder were necessary for
examining some of the nests without disturbing them or the
surroundings.

Nests were always loose structures, of coarse twigs for a
foundation, sometimes with a little superimposed grape-vine
bark, cottonwood bark, or rootlets. In some cases there was
no other lining and eggs could be seen through the bottom
of the nest; but usually there were fresh or old leaves,
bark strips, or willow cotton. In only one nest was there a
feather in the lining. Often the nests were much longer in
one dimension than the other, in one case four inches wide
and twelve inches long.

_Eggs._--The California cuckoo lays usually three or four eggs, occasionally only two. These are indistinguishable from those of the eastern yellow-billed cuckoo and average only slightly larger. The measurements of 43 eggs average 31.1 by 23.1 millimeters; the eggs showing the four extremes measure =35.5= by 23.5, 33.5 by =25=, and =27.5= by =21= millimeters.

_Food._--Bendire (1895) says that in a brood that he watched, the young were fed “always with a large black cricket (_Anabus simplex_ or _purpuratus_) * * *. They picked most of these repulsive-looking creatures from grass stalks and low shrubs on which they were feeding, and although there were numbers of them to be found all around, as well as in camp, they generally went off some little distance to get them.”

Mr. Swarth (1929) says that a female, collected in Arizona, “contained in its stomach two green caterpillars and a lizard 100 millimeters long, the latter swallowed entire and rolled into a coil. This seems a startling diet for a tree-dwelling cuckoo, but there is at least one other instance reported, also from the vicinity of Tucson, of a lizard being taken by one of these birds.”

COCCYZUS ERYTHROPTHALMUS (Wilson)

BLACK-BILLED CUCKOO

PLATES 8–11

HABITS

The black-billed cuckoo is not so widely distributed as the yellow-billed, being confined in the breeding season to practically the northern half of the United States and southern Canada east of the Rocky Mountains. Within this range it seems to be commoner northward and rarer southward than the other species, ranging farther north and not so far south.

In appearance and habits our two cuckoos are very much alike, and their haunts are similar; both are often found together, or in similar places, though the black-billed is rather more of a woodland bird and rather more retiring than the yellow-billed. William Brewster (1906) says that in the Cambridge region it is “more given to haunting extensive tracts of dry upland woods and to nesting in wild apple trees, Virginia junipers and barberry bushes in remote rocky pastures such as those which lie scattered along the crest and sides of the high ridge between Arlington and Waverley.”

_Courtship._--William Brewster (1937a) writes: “On July 15, 1908, I witnessed the coition of two Black-billed Cuckoos in woods near Bethel, Maine. It took place on a branch only three or four feet above the ground. Although performed listlessly and intermittently, it was singularly protracted, for the two birds remained together at least four or five minutes, and did not finally separate until disturbed by my approach, when the male flew away and presently sang once. The female stayed quietly on her perch until I got near enough to see that she was a fully adult bird.”

_Nesting._--Most of the New England nests on which I have data were placed at low elevations, 2 to 4 feet above ground, in various small trees, bushes, or thickets. My first nest was the highest, 10 feet up, in the top of a leaning black birch in a strip of swampy woods and brushy thickets along a small brook. Another was 8 feet from the ground in a dense thicket of shrubbery and blackberry vines. Three nests were in small white pines, 3 to 4 feet up, in rather open spaces overgrown with various shrubs and small trees near the edges of the woods; the nests were placed on horizontal branches, against the trunk, and well concealed among the dense branches. Near Asquam Lake in New Hampshire I saw two nests in thick clumps of mountain-laurel in some dense and heavy deciduous woods, where the land sloped down to the lake; the mountain-laurel grew here in extensive patches, but not very high, seldom over 3 or 4 feet; the large and well-made nests were only 2 and 3 feet from the ground, but fairly well concealed.

Some nests of the black-billed cuckoo are very flimsy affairs, but often they are much more substantially built than the nests of the yellow-billed cuckoo. Owen Durfee describes in his notes a well-made nest that he found in a clump of chinquapin oaks near a road in Rehoboth, Mass. It was made of oak twigs and dry fern stalks, many of the twigs being fresh, with leaves attached; it was lined with dry oak leaves and a few fresh ones. It measured 8 inches in outside diameter and 3 by 3½ inches in inside diameter, being hollowed to a depth of 1 inch. There is a beautiful nest in the Thayer collection, taken from a thicket in Lancaster, Mass., 7 feet from the ground; it has a well-made foundation of coarse twigs, tufts of grass, and burs; and it is profusely lined with the green leaves and the cottony catkins of the poplar. S. F. Rathbun writes to me of an interesting nest that he found: “The nest was a saucer-shaped affair made entirely of the burs from the burdock plant, simply stuck together so as to form a shallow receptacle for the eggs. As a lining for the nest a few dry grasses were used, and the burs with the grasses represented the entire structure. The cuckoo certainly showed ingenuity when it made this nest, for it could not have been more simply or easily constructed.”

Dr. T. C. Stephens has sent me some fine photographs (pl. 8) of a black-billed cuckoo’s nest taken at the base of a willow sapling, near the shore of Lake Goodenough, in Union County, S. Dak., and says: “I have observed a rather marked tendency for the black-billed cuckoo in this region to build its nest within a very few inches of the ground or on the ground. This nest in the photograph was several inches above the ground outside the clump, but it might be regarded as a ground nest, because there was quite an accumulation of dirt and weed growth immediately below it. Of course, I have found nests of this species at heights about level with a man’s eyes, also.”

A. Dawes DuBois has sent me the data for eight nests of this cuckoo, as found by him in Tompkins County, N. Y., and Hennepin County, Minn. Two of them were 5 feet above ground, one in the top of a bush covered with grape vines on the steep slope of a ravine and the other in a small larch, in the midst of an extensive willow thicket, half a foot from the trunk of the tree on a branch where two branchlets were attached. One of the lowest two was not over a foot above ground, among weeds 2 feet high; the nest was supported by a small dead branch that had fallen from a tree and lay hidden in the weeds. Others were at intermediate heights in more normal situations. The nest in the small larch tree he describes as made first of some cottony seed pods (ripened willow catkins), then a main structure of woody twigs, and lined with finer twigs, a few grasses and bits of the cottony seed pods; two tufts of dry grass, with roots attached, were at opposite sides of the rim.

Major Bendire (1895) says:

The nests of the Black-billed Cuckoo appear to be slightly
better built than those of the Yellow-billed species; the
platform is usually constructed of finer twigs, the soft
inner bark of cedar, fine rootlets, weed stems, etc., and
there is generally more lining. This consists of the aments
of oak, white and black ash, and maple, willow catkins, and
the flowers of the cudweed or everlasting (_Gnaphalium_),
dried leaves, and similar materials. The majority of the
nests are placed in rather low situations, mostly not
over 6 feet from the ground, on horizontal limbs of bushy
evergreens, pines, cedars, and hemlocks, or in deciduous
trees and shrubs, such as the box elder, chestnut, thorn
apple, and beech trees; also in hedges, briar and kalmia
patches, occasionally on old logs, and now and then even on
the ground.

A rather high nest was found by P. G. Howes (1908) near Stamford, Conn. It was about 15 feet from the ground, at the extremity of a limb of “a scrubby apple tree at the foot of a hay-covered field.” He says that, in his experience, the nest “has always been lined with maiden-hair ferns.”

H. W. Flint, of Stamford, Conn., in a letter to Major Bendire (1895), mentions a still higher nest, and says: “I know of one spot in this vicinity where the Black-billed Cuckoo might almost be said to breed in colonies--a sloping hillside near a traveled road. Here I have found seven nests of this species within an hour, none of them placed over 3 feet from the ground. I have also frequently found their nest on a fallen limb, the top of which was resting upon underbrush. As an exception to their low nesting, I once found a nest containing two well-feathered young and two fresh eggs over 18 feet from the ground, placed in the top of a cedar tree, in a dense thicket of other cedars.”

As already mentioned under the preceding species, both cuckoos often lay their eggs in each other’s nests. Thomas McIlwraith (1894) mentions three cases of parasitism on the part of the black-billed cuckoo, as observed by Dr. C. K. Clarke, of Kingston, Ontario; he says:

The first birds Dr. Clarke observed being imposed upon were
a pair of chipping sparrows, who raised the young cuckoo at
the expense of the family.

Next came a pair of yellow warblers, whose _protégé_ soon
crowded out the legitimate occupants of the nest. They were
raised from the ground and placed within reach, but the big
boy required all the attention of the foster-parents, and
the others died. During the whole period, the old cuckoo
was always to be found flitting about in a restless manner,
as if she had some doubt in regard to the ability of the
warblers to take care of her child.

The third case was another pair of chipping sparrows, in
whose nest the cuckoo was observed sitting, and from which
she did not move till the observers almost touched her. The
result was the same as in the other cases. The young cuckoo
threw the sparrows out as soon as he had strength to do so.

Eggs of the black-billed cuckoo have also been found in nests of the wood pewee, cardinal, cedar waxwing, catbird, and wood thrush. Under the preceding species will be found a note, published by J. L. Davison (1887), describing the finding of a nest occupied by a robin, a yellow-billed cuckoo, and a mourning dove. Bendire (1895) published an almost identical account of such a remarkable occurrence, on the authority of the same observer, but with the black-billed substituted for the yellow-billed cuckoo. It seems hardly likely that such an unusual happening could occur with both species in exactly the same way, and leaves us in doubt as to which species of cuckoo was involved.

_Eggs._--The black-billed cuckoo commonly lays 2 or 3 eggs; sets of 4 or 5 may sometimes be the product of a single pair; but the larger numbers that have been found in their nests, 6, 7, or even 8 eggs, were probably laid by two or perhaps three females, as these birds are notoriously careless about laying in each other’s nests. Bendire (1895) says: “The eggs of the Black-billed Cuckoo are more nearly oval than elliptical oval, and shorter and rounder than those of the Yellow-billed Cuckoo, and much more deeply colored. Like these, they are unspotted; the shell is thin and fine grained, with little or no gloss. Their color is difficult to describe exactly, varying from nile blue to pale beryl green, and occasionally the shell shows a decidedly marbled appearance, caused by different shades running into each other. * * * Aside from their deeper color, they are also readily distinguished from eggs of the Yellow-billed Cuckoo by their smaller size.”

Eggs that I have seen in collections I should describe as “pale glaucous green,” “dull opaline green,” or “microline green” and varying from oval to elliptical-oval. Some of these, as well as some of those included in the following measurements, may be yellow-billed cuckoos’ eggs, as the two are probably not always recognizable with certainty. The measurements of 54 eggs, presumably of this species, average 27.18 by 20.57 millimeters; the eggs showing the four extremes measure =30.48= by =22.86=, =22.61= by 18.80, and 25.40 by =18.29= millimeters.

_Young._--Incubation is shared by both sexes and lasts for about 14 days. As the eggs are often laid at infrequent intervals, it is not unusual to find young birds of different ages, or even eggs and young, in the same nest. Both sexes assist in the care of the young and are devoted parents; even when an egg is hatched by a foster parent, the mother cuckoo does not seem entirely to lose interest in her youngster, as related above. On the other hand, William H. Moore (1902a), of Scotch Lake, New Brunswick, says: “I have known this bird to desert its young when the nest was molested, and after the young died they were covered with leaves by the adults.” Cuckoos are careless about removing the cast-off shells, which are often found in the nest after the young have hatched. The young remain in the nest 7 to 9 days after hatching and then become quite precocial. While in the nest the young are fed by their parents in a rather peculiar manner, of which Dr. Thomas S. Roberts (1932) writes:

When the old bird returns, the food, which is very likely
to be _live_ caterpillars, is concealed in the throat. As
a nestling raises its head with open mouth and rapidly
vibrating wings, the parent thrusts its bill deeply into
the open maw and the young bird grasps securely the smooth
bill of the old bird, in which action it is greatly aided
by several soft papillae or disks in the roof of the
mouth. Then, with a slow, pumping motion, the squirming
caterpillars are transferred with some difficulty from one
mouth to another. The process is a slow one, the birds
being attached a minute or more and the transfer aided,
apparently, by a sucking effort on the part of the nestling.

When a young Cuckoo opens its mouth widely there are
visible, in the roof of the mouth, a number of large,
flat-topped, white papillae or tubercles, arranged
symmetrically, the function of which is plainly to make
it possible for the nestling to maintain its hold on the
parent’s bill, which is smooth and tapering. A small
finger-tip inserted well down into the open, upturned mouth
of a nestling is seized tightly and a sucking motion is
distinctly perceptible. [Pl. 10.]

Prof. Francis H. Herrick (1935) has made a thorough study of the home life of the black-billed cuckoo, and I cannot do better than to quote a few of his remarks on the behavior of the young. After describing the peculiar appearance of the newly hatched young, he says:

More remarkable than anything about its appearance,
however, is the muscular vigor and endurance the cuckoo
displays at this tender age, for it seems to be able to
withstand heat, hunger, and general neglect that would be
fatal to the young of most wild birds. I soon found by
experiment that when barely three hours out of its shell
this little cuckoo could hang suspended by a leg or even
by a single toe for upwards of a quarter of a minute, and
that it could raise itself up until its bill was well over
the twig that it grasped with both feet; and in a short
time it was able to raise itself on to the twig, or even to
draw itself up with the power of one leg, which implies an
extraordinary muscular development. * * * Though born blind
and essentially naked, the young black-bill is neither deaf
nor dumb, and in proportion to its size it is probably the
strongest and most enterprising altricial nestling on the
North American continent. * * *

Like other nestlings, the cuckoo lies flat, with toes
clenched, and holds to its fragile nest with a firm grip.
Attempt to remove it, and it is likely to pull its nest to
pieces rather than loose its hold; or it may even drag out
a fellow-nestling, reminding one of crayfishes or lobsters,
in the handling of which one may also get a living chain.
Should you succeed in displacing a bird, its claws will
rapidly open and close in its desperate search for any
object to clasp, for a contact stimulus afforded by any
solid body can alone satisfy this strong reflex. * * *

At the age of about six days the nestling cuckoo has
reached that peculiar transitory state which we may call
the “quill” or feather-tube stage. * * *

Towards the end of this brief and unique stage the
behavior of the young bird changes in marked and rapid
fashion. It indulges in new attitudes, acquires new call
and alarm-notes, shows fear, and begins those preening or
combing movements which are to effect a relatively sudden
and altogether surprising change in its appearance. * * *

In one instance the first preening action was noticed on
the sixth day; thereafter this kind of activity became
frequent, and the bird would comb every “quill” within
reach, drawing the mandibles over it from base to apex.
Then, with apparent suddenness, at the close of the seventh
day the transparent horny sheaths began to give way at
their base--instead of wearing off gradually from apex
to base in the usual fashion--and were raked off by the
mouthful. * * *

Fear may become manifest as early as the sixth day, when
a frightened bird will sometimes clear the nest at a
bound and, seizing a branch with both feet, hold firmly
to it. Should it drop to the ground, it can make off with
surprising speed. If captured and held, it will emit loud,
explosive squeals, than which nothing seems to arouse its
parents to quicker attack or bolder measures. Replace it in
the nest, and it spreads its wings, stiffens, and lies flat
with every feather-tube on end; and it will repeat these
defensive measures as often as it is touched or disturbed.
* * *

When from seven to nine days old, with half of its feathers
unsheathed, the cuckoo suddenly leaves its nest and enters
upon a climbing period, which lasts about a fortnight or
until it is able to fly. At one of my observation stations
I saw three young birds leave their nest in succession,
and the procedure in the case of the oldest one was
particularly interesting. This bird, which had been sitting
in the bright sunshine, for the day was not uncomfortably
warm, of a sudden moved to one side of its platform. After
having combed off several mouthfuls of feather-sheaths,
it sat upright for some minutes and gazed into its outer
world. Then, directing Its attention to a small branch and
ducking its head as if contemplating flight, with a leap it
cleared the nest, and, catching hold of a twig, with both
feet, it swung free with acrobatic dexterity. In another
moment it had pulled itself up and was comfortably perched.
If such a first perch is placed in the shade and the young
bird is promptly fed, it may keep to it for a long time;
but it can move about, and should it drop to the ground, it
can mount to safety again.

The vertical position assumed by young cuckoos, probably as a hiding pose, has been noted by several observers, but the following incident reported to me in a letter from Frederic H. Kennard, is quite unusual; he says: “I had just been investigating a big highbush blueberry bush, looking for a nest, when I discovered, to my surprise, a fledgling black-billed cuckoo, squatting on a twig about 6 feet from the ground. The little bird, which really was not able to fly, was squatting on a limb, just as little birds ordinarily do; his wing feathers were fairly well developed, but his tail was only about a quarter of an inch long. When I parted the branches a trifle, so that we could see him better, and finding out that he was discovered, he promptly assumed an almost perpendicular position, with his neck stretched out almost unbelievably and his bill almost straight in the air; and there he sat, immovable, with his bill in the air like a bittern, only oscillating a trifle when the branch on which he was sitting was disturbed a little by the breeze.

“My youngest son, Jack, being interested in the peculiarities of cuckoos’ feet, attempted to pick him off the limb; the little bird fluttered to the ground, where he picked him up. When we had duly examined and discussed the arrangement of his toes, Jack endeavored to put the little fellow back exactly where he had been when we first disturbed him. Then, as he endeavored to replace him on the limb, he suddenly went limp and, apparently, passed out in his hand, frightened to death, as I supposed. He was perfectly limp and my impression is that his eyes were closed. Jack finally, in trying to get him to stay on the limb, hung him across the limb by the neck, with his head across one side and his body down the other side. Just then there came a little breeze, the body dropped, and that little bird simply scuttled in under the ferns. It was the most astonishing performance that I ever witnessed, first the stake-driver attitude, as a protective position, and then playing dead.”

_Plumages._--Professor Herrick (1935) says of the newly-hatched young cuckoo: “Although most birds emerge from the shell wet with the amniotic fluid, the cuckoo just mentioned came out quite dry. It was two and one-half inches long and weighed less than a quarter of an ounce (or 7.4 grams). Its skin was coal-black, sparsely sprinkled with sharply contrasting snow-white ‘hairs’--in reality the feather-tubes of a rudimentary down which never unfolds. These primitive feather-tubes are later pushed out by those of the juvenal contour feathers and for about a week are borne upon their tips, thus giving them a peculiar flagellate appearance.”

When about six days old, the young cuckoo “bristles like the fretful porcupine in every feather-tract”; these bristles are the feather-tubes of the juvenal plumage, referred to above. At about this age, the young bird begins the “combing” process, by which the sheaths of these feather tubes are removed, as described above, and a marvelous change begins to take place in a remarkably short time, as the sheaths are removed and fall in a shower in and about the nest. Professor Herrick (1935) says: “Thus at one stroke one or more of the juvenal contour feathers are exposed and quickly fluff out in all their shapely proportions. * * * The change actually occupies about twelve hours, and it is really not complete, since the sheaths of the wing- and tail-quills flake off gradually, as in other birds, and those feathers of head and neck out of reach of the ‘comb’ remain sheathed for a considerable time longer.”