A History of North American Birds, Land Birds. Volume 2

Specimens of this bird from regions west of the Missouri, and especially one from Cantonment Burgwyn, New Mexico, are appreciably larger than eastern, with decidedly longer bill. One brought from Mazatlan by Mr. Xantus is undistinguishable from the long-billed western variety.

Habits. The Yellow-billed Cuckoo is distributed throughout North America from Canada to Florida, and from the Atlantic coast to California. It has been met with in all the principal West India Islands. I have received specimens of its eggs and nest from Southwestern Texas. Audubon mentions finding this bird high up on the Mississippi River, on the upper branches of the Arkansas, and in Upper Canada, as well as in every State between these limits. Mr. Newton found it breeding in the island of St. Croix, Mr. Gosse mentions it as a bird of Jamaica, and Lembeye gives it among those of Cuba, and Mr. Salvin found it in Central America. It is known to breed from the West Indies and Florida to Minnesota, and from New Brunswick to Texas. It does not appear to have been met with in any of the government expeditions, except by Dr. Woodhouse, who speaks of it as very common in the Indian Territory, Texas, and New Mexico.

This species was seen on one occasion, and heard at other times, near Sacramento City, Cal., by Mr. Ridgway, in June, 1867. It was there rare, or at least not common, and found principally in the willow-thickets. It was again met with in July, of the same year, along the Truckee River, in Nevada, where, also, it appeared to be very rare.

Wilson traced it as far north as Lake Ontario, and speaks of finding it numerous in the Chickasaw and Choctaw nations, and as breeding in the upper part of Georgia. He seems to have observed very carefully its habits, and to have enjoyed favorable opportunities for his observations. His account of their nesting is interesting. He states that, in marked contrast to the singularly unparental conduct of their European relatives, the American Cuckoos build their own nest, hatch their own eggs, and rear their own young, and that in conjugal and parental affection they seem to be surpassed by no other birds. He adds that they begin to pair early in May, and commence building about the 10th of that month. He describes their nest as usually fixed among the horizontal branches of an apple-tree; sometimes in a solitary thorn, crab, or cedar, in some retired part of the woods. It is constructed with little art, and scarcely any concavity, of small sticks and twigs, intermixed with green weeds and blossoms of the maple. On this almost flat bed the eggs, usually three or four in number, are placed; these are of a uniform greenish-blue color, and of a size proportionate to that of the bird. While the female is sitting, the male is usually not far distant, and gives the alarm by his notes when any person is approaching. The female sits so close that you may almost reach her with your hand, and then precipitates herself to the ground, feigning lameness to draw you away from the spot, fluttering, trailing her wings, and tumbling over in the manner of the Woodcock and other birds. Both parents unite in providing food for the young. This consists chiefly of caterpillars, particularly such as infest apple-trees.

Mr. Audubon speaks of this species as not abundant anywhere, therein differing from Wilson’s statements, but more in accordance with my own observations. They are, as a species, pretty generally distributed, but at the same time their numbers are materially affected by the character of the locality, as they are chiefly to be met with on low grounds and in damp places. Mr. Audubon also describes their nest as simple and flat, composed of a few dry sticks and grass, formed much like that of the Carolina Dove, and like it fastened to a horizontal branch, often within reach. He subsequently states that when in Charleston, S. C., in the early part of June, 1837, he was invited by Mr. Rhett to visit his grounds in the vicinity of that city, for the purpose of viewing a nest of this bird. The following is his account of it: “A nest, which was placed near the centre of a tree of moderate size, was reached by a son of the gentleman on whose grounds we were. One of the old birds, which was sitting upon it, left its situation only when within a few inches of the climber’s hand, and silently glided off to another tree close by. Two young Cuckoos, nearly able to fly, scrambled off from their tenement among the branches of the tree, and were caught. The nest was taken, and carefully handed to me. It still contained three young Cuckoos, all of different sizes, the smallest apparently just hatched, the next in size probably several days old, while the largest, covered with pin-feathers, would have been able to leave the nest in about a week. There were also in the nest two eggs, one containing a chick, the other fresh or lately laid. The two young birds which escaped from the nest clung so firmly to the branches by their feet, that our attempts to dislodge them were of no avail, and we were obliged to reach them with the hand. On looking at all these birds, our surprise was great, as no two of them were of the same size, which clearly showed that they had been hatched at different periods, and I should suppose the largest to have been fully three weeks older than any of the rest. Mr. Rhett assured us that he had observed the same in another nest, placed in a tree within a few paces of his house. He stated that eleven young Cuckoos had been successively hatched and reared in it by the same pair of old birds in one season, and that young birds and eggs were to be seen in it at the same time for many weeks in succession.”

Mr. Nuttall states that the nest of this bird is usually forsaken by the owner if the eggs are handled before the commencement of incubation. They are very tenacious and affectionate towards their young, and sit so close as almost to allow of being taken off by the hand. They then frequently precipitate themselves to the ground, fluttering, tumbling, and feigning lameness, in the manner of many other affectionate and artful birds, to draw the intruder away from the vicinity of the brood. At such times, the mother also utters the most uncouth guttural sounds as she runs along the ground. While the female is engaged in sitting on her charge, the male takes his station at no great distance, and gives alarm by his notes, on the approach of an intruder. When the young are hatched, both unite in the labor of providing them with food. He subsequently states that these birds hatch several broods in a season, which he inferred from the fact of his meeting with a nest containing eggs as late as the 28th of August. He also speaks of finding in one instance an egg of the Cuckoo laid in the nest of a Catbird, and in another instance (June 15) an egg in the nest of a Robin. Such instances must, however, be very rare. No other writer mentions any similar instance, and none have ever fallen under my observations.

Mr. Gosse, in his Birds of Jamaica, describes the Yellow-bill as among the birds of that island, speaks of it as among the regular visitants in spring, but makes no mention of its breeding there.

Mr. Edward Newton, in his paper on the birds of St. Croix (Ibis, 1859, p. 149), gives an interesting account of its breeding in that locality. He adds his testimony to the general credit given to this species for the conjugal affection they evince. On one occasion, he says, a male having been shot, and shrieking as it fell, the female instantly flew to the spot, and fluttered along the ground in the manner that an old hen Partridge or other bird would do, to lead astray the pursuer of her young. On June 2, 1858, he shot a female of this species, having an egg in her ovary nearly ready for exclusion; it was quite soft, but had its proper color. On the 29th of the same month, while riding, he saw the white terminal spots of a Cuckoo’s tail projecting from a small nest on a manchineel that overhung the path. It was built in a very open situation, and the bird, as he rode underneath, was not more than a yard above his head. She sat with nearly all her neck and breast outside the nest, which was only just large enough to contain the eggs. She did not fly off until after he had tied up the pony hard by, and had almost touched her with his whip. There were three eggs, laid side by side in a row, along which the bird had been sitting. The nest was at some distance from the stem of the tree, and placed loosely on the bough. It was a mere platform of small sticks laid one across another, with a few finer twigs and a little grass as a lining; so slightly was it put together, that, on attempting to take it from the tree, it fell to pieces.

No writer besides Mr. Audubon makes any mention of, or appears to have been aware of, the peculiar habits of these birds in hatching out their successive depositions of eggs, one by one. In this respect they are eccentric, and do not always exhibit this trait. While I have repeatedly observed facts exactly corresponding with those noticed by Mr. Audubon in the garden of Mr. Rhett, at other times I have found in the opening of the season three or four eggs laid before incubation commenced, and all hatched before others were deposited. Then the parents seemed to depend, in no small degree, upon the warmth of the bodies of the older offspring to compensate to the younger for their own neglect, as well as for the exposed and insufficient warmth of the nest. I have repeatedly found in a nest three young and two eggs, one of the latter nearly fresh, one with the embryo half developed, while of the young birds one would be just out of the shell, one half fledged, and one just ready to fly. My attention was first called to these peculiarities of hatching as early as 1834, by finding, in Cambridge, in a nest with three young birds, an egg which, instead of proving to be addled, as I anticipated, was perfectly fresh, and evidently just laid. Subsequent observations in successive seasons led to the conviction that both this species and the Black-billed Cuckoo share in these peculiarities, and that it is a general, but not a universal practice. These facts were communicated to Mr. Audubon, but not before his attention had been called to the same thing.

In referring to these peculiarities of the American Cuckoo, Mr. Audubon finds in them a closely connecting link with the European bird, and Mr. Darwin, carrying still farther the same idea, finds in them also data for regarding our birds as only one remove from the vagaries of the European Cuckoo. At the first glance there may seem to be some plausibility in these deductions. The mere apology for a nest of our Cuckoos and their alternations of laying and hatching may, to some extent, be regarded as but one remove from the total neglect of the European to build any nest, making, instead, successive depositions in the nests of other birds. But there are other peculiarities of our Cuckoos to be taken into consideration, totally variant from the polygamous, unconjugal, and unparental European. Their devotion to their mates and to their offspring, in which both sexes vie with each other; their extended breeding-season, varying from one to nearly four months,—all these characteristics separate them by a long interval from their namesakes of the Old World.

If the nests of the Cuckoos are incomplete and insufficient, so are also those of the most exemplary of parents, the whole tribe of Pigeons, and, like the latter, our Cuckoos more than atone for such deficiencies by the devoted fidelity with which they adhere to their post of duty even in the face of imminent dangers; while, after the first offspring of the season have been hatched, the warmth of their bodies becomes an additional protection from the exposure of the bare platform on which they are deposited.

The eggs of this species are of an oblong-oval shape, equally obtuse at either end, and measure 1.30 inches in length by 1.00 in breadth. They vary considerably in size, their minimum breadth being .90 of an inch, and the length 1.20 inches. Their color is a uniform light bluish-green, extremely fugitive, and fading even in the closed drawer of a cabinet.

Coccygus minor, CabanisMANGROVE CUCKOO

? Cuculus minor, Gmelin, Syst. Nat. I, 1788, 411. ? Coccyzus minor, Cabanis, Cab. Journal für Orn. 1856, 104 (Cuba).—Baird, Birds N. Am. 1858, 78.—Cuculus seniculus, Lath. Ind. I, 1790, 219. Coccyzus seniculus, Nuttall, Man. I, 1832, 558.—Aud. Orn. Biog. II, 1834, 390, pl. clxix.—Ib. Birds America, IV, 1842, 303, pl. cclxxvii.—Gosse, Birds Jamaica, 281.—Bon. Conspectus, 1850, III. Erythrophrys seniculus, Bon. List, 1838. Coccygus dominicus, Scl. Cat. 1862, 323.

Sp. Char. Lower mandible yellow, except at the tip. Body above olivaceous, strongly tinged with ashy towards and on the head. Beneath pale yellowish-brown, darkest on the legs and abdomen, becoming lighter to the bill. An elongated spot of dark plumbeous behind the eye. Inner edges of the quills and under wing-coverts like the belly. Tail-feathers, except the central, black, with a sharply defined tip of white for about an inch, this color not extending along the outer web of the quill. Length about 12.00; wing about 5.25.

Hab. Florida Keys to West Indies. Localities: ? Sta. Cruz (Newton, Ibis, I, 150); Cuba (Cab. J. IV, 154; Gundl. Repert. I, 1866, 295); Jamaica (Gosse, B. Jam. 281).

This species is readily distinguishable by its fulvous under parts, dark ear-coverts, and lack of rufous on inner webs of quills. It has the yellow bill and dark tail, with broad white tips, of C. americanus, although the white does not extend along the outer web of the feathers.

According to Mr. Audubon, this species is a regular summer visitor to Key West and the other Florida keys.

This species is more especially West Indian, occurring in nearly all the islands. There are some local variations in color (Porto-Rican being much redder, Bahaman paler), as well as in size, but in a large series from the same island there will be found such differences as to warrant us in considering all as one species. In a very large series before us, we cannot see any tangible difference, although Cabanis and Sclater recognize a C. nesiotes from the Antillean West Indies, as distinguished from C. seniculus from South American and the windward West Indies; the former, smaller and paler, and, according to Cabanis, with the white of tip of tail confined to the inner web; the latter darker beneath, and larger. These characters I do not find substantiated, nor have I seen one specimen without white in both webs at the ends of the tail-feathers.

As the name of C. minor is the earliest one for at least the South American race, we retain it in preference to seniculus, as although scarcely minor in this genus, it is so compared with Piaya, Geococcyx, and Saurothera.

Habits. This species claims a place in the fauna of North America as a resident of the Florida keys. This is the only locality positively known as its habitat within the limits of the territory of the United States. The only specimen referred to in the ninth volume of the Pacific Railroad Surveys was supposed to have been obtained in Florida. Mr. Nuttall, who was the first to include the Mangrove Cuckoo among North American birds, speaks of it as an inhabitant chiefly of Cayenne, and as occasionally visiting the extreme Southern States. Mr. Audubon, who was the first to meet with the species within the limits of the United States, only obtained specimens of it in Florida, near Key West. I have seen a specimen which was given to Mr. John G. Bell as having been procured in Southern Mississippi. Mr. Gosse obtained specimens of this bird in Jamaica, though he had no opportunity of observing its domestic economy. In the month of January the specimens he dissected had eggs in their ovaries as large as duck-shot. Dr. Gundlach gives it as a Cuban bird, but does not mention it as one that breeds on that island. The Newtons met with this species in St. Croix, but appear to have regarded it as not a summer resident, but only in the light of a visitant in the winter.

Mr. March, referring without doubt to this species, mentions it as a constant resident in the island of Jamaica, where it is common in the lowlands during summer. It is said to breed from March to July, building in the low branches of trees or in shrubs. The nest is described as a structure composed of a few dry sticks, so loosely put together that it falls to pieces on any attempt to remove it. Three, rarely four, eggs are laid, which are of a glaucous-green color, oval, generally round at both ends, and varying in size from 1.25 inches by .90 to 1.38 inches by 1 inch.

Of late years no specimens seem to have been obtained in Florida, either by Maynard or by the many other explorers of the Peninsula; and even if the earlier notices are correct, we may have to consider it as merely a straggler from the Bahamas, like Certhiola bahamensis, Crotophaga ani, Phonipara zena, Vireosylvia barbatula, etc.

Mr. Audubon, who was the only one of our naturalists who met with the nest and eggs, discovered them near Key West. He describes the nest as slightly constructed of dry twigs, and as almost flat, nearly resembling that of the Yellow-billed Cuckoo. The eggs are the same in number and form as those of that species, but are somewhat larger. It is said to raise two broods in one season, and to feed its young on insects until they are able to provide for themselves. An old bird, caught on its nest, which Mr. Audubon saw confined in a cage, refused all food and soon pined itself to death,—thus evincing, in his opinion, the great affection these birds have for their own eggs. An egg in the Smithsonian Institution collection, given me by Mr. John G. Bell of New York, is said to have been obtained in Mississippi with the parent bird. Its color has slightly faded, and, except in its greater comparative breadth, it is not distinguishable from the eggs of the Yellow-bill.

Coccygus erythrophthalmus, BonBLACK-BILLED CUCKOO

Cuculus erythrophthalmus, Wilson, Am. Orn. IV, 1811, 16, pl. xxviii. Coccyzus erythrophthalmus, Bon. Obs. Wils. 1825, 48.—Ib. Consp. 1850, IV.—Aud. Orn. Biog. I, 1832, 170; V, 523, pl. xxxii.—Ib. Birds America, IV, 1842, 300, pl. cclxxvi.—Baird, Birds N. Am. 1858, 77.—Scl. Cat. 1862, 323.—Samuels, 85. Erythrophrys erythrophthalmus, Bon. List, 1838. Coccyzus dominicus, (Lath.) Nutt. Man. I, 1832, 556 (not of Latham, which belongs rather to C. americanus, on account of the red quills and white edge of outer tail-feather).

Sp. Char. Bill entirely black. Upper parts generally of a metallic greenish-olive, ashy towards the base of the bill; beneath pure white, with a brownish-yellow tinge on the throat. Inner webs of the quills tinged with cinnamon. Under surface of all the tail-feathers hoary ash-gray. All, except the central on either side, suffused with darker to the short, bluish-white, and not well-defined tip. A naked red skin round the eye. Length, about 12.00; wing, 5.00; tail, 6.50.

Hab. United States to the Missouri plains, south to Bogota. Localities: Cuba (Cab. J. IV, 154, nests; Gundl. Repert. I, 1866, 295); Guatemala (Salvin, Ibis, II, 276); Mexico and Bogota (Scl. Cat. 323); Isth. Panama (Lawr. Ann. N. Y. Lyc. VII, 62); Costa Rica (Lawr. N. Y. Lyc. IX, 128).

This species differs from the C. americanus in the black bill, and the absence of black on the tail-feathers, the white tips of which are much shorter and less abruptly defined. One specimen (5,253) from the Upper Missouri has a much stronger tinge of yellowish-cinnamon on the inner webs of the quills than the others. The sexes are quite similar.

Habits. The Black-billed Cuckoo, so closely allied with the common species in respect to size, appearance, habits, and all its general characteristics, is also distributed throughout very nearly the same localities, where, however, it is usually regarded as a much less abundant bird. It is found throughout the United States as far west as the Missouri plains. Dr. Woodhouse met with this bird in his expedition down the Zuni and Colorado Rivers, but states that he saw but very few, either in Texas or in the Indian Territory. Lembeye, De la Sagra, and Dr. Gundlach include it as a visitant, in the winter months, to Cuba. Mr. Audubon met with this Cuckoo in Louisiana only a few times in the course of his various researches, and never in any Western State except Ohio. He does not seem to have been aware that it ever breeds south of North Carolina. From thence to Maine, and even as far north as the Canadas, Nova Scotia, and Southern Labrador, he gives as its distribution during the breeding-season. He also regarded it as much more common in low and wooded ground on the borders of the sea, where it frequents the edges of woods rather than their interior, and chiefly on the edges of creeks, and in damp places. Mr. Nuttall appeared to have regarded it as very nearly as common as the Yellow-bill throughout the United States, and as extending its migrations as far north as Nova Scotia and Newfoundland. He states that it is found in St. Domingo and Guiana, and also, on the authority of Mr. Abbott, that it breeds in Georgia as early as the 1st of April. Mr. Audubon says it was never met with by Dr. Bachman in South Carolina. It certainly breeds, however, as far south, at least, as Georgia, as the nest and eggs of this species were taken at Varnell Station, in the northwestern part of that State, by the late Dr. Alexander Gerhardt.

It is not mentioned by either Dr. Gambel or Dr. Heermann as among the birds of the Pacific Coast, and it does not appear to have been actually obtained by any of the expeditions to the Pacific beyond the Indian Territory. Its distribution, therefore, during the breeding-season, would seem to be from Georgia to Canada, and from Texas to Minnesota, inclusive of all the intermediate territory. Dr. Newberry frequently saw and heard what he supposed to have been this species, in the trees bordering Cow Creek, near Fort Reading, but as he did not secure a specimen, he may have been mistaken. It has been taken at Devil’s Lake, in Minnesota, and in the Red River Settlement.

Wilson describes the nest of this bird as generally built in a cedar, much in the same manner, and of nearly the same materials, as that of the Yellow-bill; the eggs are smaller than those of that bird, usually four or five in number, and of a deeper greenish-blue.

Mr. Audubon speaks of the nest as built in places similar to those chosen by the other species, as formed of the same materials, and arranged with quite as little art. He gives the number of eggs as from four to six, of a greenish-blue, nearly equal at both ends, but rather smaller than those of the Yellow-bill, rounder, and of a much deeper tint of green. He gives their measurement as 1.50 inches in length and .87 of an inch in breadth.

Mr. Nuttall, whose description more nearly corresponds with my own observations, speaks of this species as usually retiring into the woods to breed, being less familiar than the former species, and choosing an evergreen bush or sapling 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 described as smaller, and three to five in number, of a bluish-green. The female sits very close on the nest, admitting a near approach before flying. He also speaks of this species as being less timorous than the Yellow-billed, and states that near the nest, with young, he has observed the parent composedly sit and plume itself for a considerable time without showing any alarm at his presence.

In all the instances in which I have observed the nest of this species, I have invariably found it in retired damp places, usually near the edges of woods, and built, not in trees, after the manner of the Yellow-billed Cuckoo, but in bushes and in low shrubbery, often not more than two or three feet from the ground. The nest, without being at all remarkable for its finish, or the nicety of its arrangement, is much more artistic and elaborate than that of the Yellow-bill. It is composed of twigs, roots, fine strips of bark, and moss, and is sometimes interwoven and partially lined with the soft catkins of trees and blossoms of plants. The eggs vary from three to six in number, and are often found to have been deposited, and incubation commenced on them, at irregular intervals, and to be in various stages of development in the same nest. I have hardly been able to observe a sufficient number of their nests to be able to state whether this species carries this irregularity so far as the Yellow-bill, nor am I aware that it has ever been known to extend its incubations into so late a period of the season. It is, if anything, more devoted to its offspring than the Yellow-bill. Both parents are assiduous in the duties of incubation, and in supplying food to each other and to their offspring. In one instance, where the female had been shot by a thoughtless boy, as she flew from the nest, the male bird successfully devoted himself to the solitary duty of rearing the brood of five. At the time of the death of the female the nest contained two eggs and three young birds. The writer was present when the bird was shot, and was unable to interpose in season to prevent it. Returning to the spot not long afterwards, he found the widowed male sitting upon the nest, and so unwilling to leave it as almost to permit himself to be captured by the hand. His fidelity and his entreaties were not disregarded. His nest, eggs, and young, were left undisturbed; and, as they were visited from time to time, the young nestlings were found to thrive under his vigilant care. The eggs were hatched out, and in time the whole five were reared in safety. This single incident shows how wide is the interval between these Cuckoos and their European namesakes.