Range. Nests from northern Florida to Canada; winters in tropical America, returning to the United States in April.
Washington, common S.R., May 3-Oct. 13. Ossining, common S.R., May 4-Oct. 31. Cambridge, common S.R., May 12-Sept. 15. N. Ohio, common S.R., Apl. 20-Sept. 25. Glen Ellyn, quite common S.R., May 15-Sept. 29. SE. Minn., common S.R., May 21-Aug. 20.
Cuckoos are common birds, but are more often heard than seen. Their notes are not like those of the cuckoo clock, which exactly imitates the voice of the European Cuckoo, but a series of cuck-cuck-cucks and cow-cows repeated a varying number of times. The Cuckoo rarely makes long flights but slips from one tree to another, seeking at once the inner branches and avoiding an exposed perch. The nest, a platform of sticks, thinly covered, is placed in low trees or bushes. The 3-5 greenish blue eggs are laid in May.
BLACK-BILLED CUCKOO
Coccyzus erythrophthalmus. [Case 7], Fig. 2
A wholly black bill (note that in both our Cuckoos it is slightly curved), wings without reddish brown, and small, inconspicuous white tips to the tail-feathers distinguish this species from the preceding.
Range. A more northern species than the Yellow-billed Cuckoo. Nests from Virginia (Georgia in the mountains) to Quebec; winters in tropical America, reaching the southern States in April.
Washington, rather rare S.R., May 5-Oct. 6. Ossining, common S.R., May 3-Oct. 7. Cambridge, common S.R., May 12-Sept. 20. N. Ohio, tolerably common S.R., May 1-Sept. 25. Glen Ellyn, S.R., May 5-Oct. 21. SE. Minn., common S.R., May 8-Sept. 27.
The day after penning the foregoing notes on the Yellow-billed Cuckoo, I saw a Black-bill make a prolonged, dashing flight through the open, alight on the limb of a dead, leafless tree, directly over a young girl who was calling loudly to an active dog near her, and from this conspicuous perch utter its low coo-coo notes, both looking and sounding more like a Dove than a conventional Cuckoo. So while we may say that the Cuckoos are much alike in habits one must not accept generalized statements too literally. There is much individuality among birds, a fact that makes their study far more interesting than if all were cast in the same mold.
The notes of this species are softer than those of the Yellow-bill, but the difference between the calls of the two species must be learned from the birds, not from books. The nest of the Black-bill is the more compactly built of the two, and its eggs are of a deeper shade.