Evening star., 1947-05-24
This and That
By Charles E. TraceDeH.


Have I correctly identified as the yellow
billed cuckoo the large bird see raiding the
tent caterpillar nests In our wild cherry tree?
"He is shy and hides in the foliage, but the
beautiful black and white horizontal markings
on his under tail feathers, his curved yellow bill
and his softly colored breast with darkly con-
trasting back make him stand out sharply,
Notwithstanding.
I'VE are also blessed with lovely scarlet tana-
gers this year-evidently nesting close by, as
I saw the males flying through our trees and
neighbors report them also. This graceful
and colorful beauty is unequalled
''Your This and That column we follow faith
fully, SO would appreciate knowing more about
the cuckoo if that is the bird above described.
Sincerely yours, E. F. IT,
y +
Yellow-billed cuckoos are common summer
residents here.
They usually come about April 20, and remain
until October S or thereabouts
Eggs are found from May 80 to September.
The billed cuckoo is seen in migration,
from April 80 to October %, but is rare as a
summer resident.
Half of the food of these birds is caterpillars,
therefore they may be regarded as one OF the
most useful species.
Both species are known as rain crow" some
times calling "kow-kow' from the call.
We are all so used to English literature, and
its constant mention of cuckoos, that we must
not be fooled into thinking our American
cuckoos, or rain crows, are like them.
The European cuckoo Is a parasitic bird,
laying its eggs in the nests of other birds, but
our own cuckoos do no such thing, but make
their own proper nests, in which they lay from
to plain dull eggs.
Eggs of the yellow billed are pale bluish-gray,
while those of the black -bied are blush green.
The nest of the black-billed is better made,
of twigs rootlets weed stems and strips OF bark,
sometimes lined with catkins. The nest is
rather on the fiat or shallow side. 1t is usually
placed about feet from the ground in trees or
bushes.
The nest of the yellow billed cuckoo is even
shalloWer, placed at greater height, usually
about Is feet from the ground; it is much more
poorly made, of twigs and fine grasses with
small leaves mixed in
There is little resemblance in appearance
between the English cuckoo and our two birds.
Some one has described oms as looking much
like pigeon with long neck and tail. And the
curved bill, of course, is distinctive, since our
pigeons do not have such bills.
Country people believe, or at least used to
believe that the gutteral cries Of the cuckoos
mean rain will fall shortly
Ornithologists regard the common name of
rain crow" as an unusually odd one, since the
birds are not black at all
why crow?" they ask, and the lay bird
watcher well may echo them.
It must be from the sound the birds make
which some wight in ages past thought re-
sembled the cav of the crow.
The black-billed cuckoo Is said to be nest
robber, but probably this idea grew mostly be-
cause OF the birds slippery and rather crafty
way of flying through trees rather than from
any sound observation.
Tent caterpillars are the favorite food OF
the cuckoo, and this puts them in preferred
classification in the minds Of home owners.
The yellow-billed species is easily distin-
guished in fight by the white markings on its
tail
One stomach examined contained $50 tent
caterpillars! 1t is claimed that the cuckoos
prefer hairy caterpillars to smooth ones, and
some of their stomachs are said to be com-
pletely "furred" inside by caterpillar hairs and
bristles.