192 CUCULIDjE.
ground we were. One of tiie old -birds, which was sitting
upon it, left its situation only when within a few inches of the
climbers hand, and silently „glided off to another tree close*
by. Two young Cuckoos, nearly able to fly, scrambled off
from their tenement among theTbranches of the tree, and were
caught by us after a while. The nest was' taken, and carefully
handed to me. I t still contained three young Cuckoos,
all of different sizes, the small&L apparently justf/hatched,
the next in size probably „several days-old, while .the largest,
covered with pen feathers, would;have, been able to leave the
nest in about a week. There were'also in-the nesf-two e' OgOg s' ,“ _
one containing a chick",L the"! other fresher lately laid. The
two young birds which escaped fromJthe-nest, clung so firmly
to the branches by their Jeet, that our attempts to dislodges
them were of no avail, and we were obliged to „rjeach shhem
with the hand. On now looking at all..thes^oung birds,*
our surprise -was indeed great, as rio- 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 \resfc-
Mr. Rhett assured us that he had observed th%; same, in
another nest ,placed in a tree within a few'paces of his house,
and which he also" showed to us. He stated thaTeleyen
young „Cuckoos had been successively hatched, and reared hp
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.
“ On thinking since of this strange fact, I have felt most
anxious to discover how many eggs the Cuckoo of Europe
drops in one season. I f it, as I suspect, produces, as our
bird does, not less than eight or ten, or what may be called
the amount of two broods in a season, this circumstance
would connect the two species in a still more intimate manner
than theoretical writers have supposed them to be allied.
YELLOW-BILLED AMERICAN CUCKOO. 193
Having mentioned these circumstances to my friend, Dr. T .
M. Brewer, and requested him to pay particular attention to
these birds while breeding, he has sent me the following note:
—“ The fact you intimated to me last July I have myself observed.
The female evidently commences incubation immediately
after laying her first egg. Thus I have found in the
nest of both species of our Cuckoos* one egg quite fresh,
while in another the chick will be just bursting the shell |
and again, I have found an egg just about to be hatched
while others are already so, and some of the young even
about to fly," These, species are not uncommon in Massachusetts,
where both breed, and both are much more numerous
some years than others,1' Mr. Audubon adds, “ I found
the- Yellow-billed Cuckoo plentiful and breeding in the
Texas; and it is met with, on. the other hand, in Nova
Scotia, 'and even in Labrador, where I saw a few. I t has
beeir-observed on the Columbia * river by Dr. Townsend.
No mention is made of it in the Fauna Boreali-Americana.
Many'spend the winter in the most southern portions of the
Floridas.11 Pennant,, in his Arctic Zoology, says of this
bird, “ I t arrives in New York in May, makes its nest in
June, and retires from North America in autumn.11
The appearance of four examples of an American species
in this country has caused some speculation. As far as I
have been able to ascertain, these birds were obtained late in
the month of August, or early in the month of September.
M. Temminck, unwilling to consider them as migrations from
North America to Europe, thinks it probable the bird may
yet be found, in the North of Europe.
The beak is as long as the head ; both mandibles slightly
curved, the upper one brownish black inclining to yellow at
the base; the under mandible yellow, except at the extreme
point, which is nearly black; the irides hazel; the top of the
* The other is the Black-billed American Cuckoo.