Black-billed Cuckoo In The Garden

A modestly colored, retiring bird, known often only by its voice

, the black-billed cuckoo is the never-tiring friend of the farmer and the gardener. Let it be known immediately that it has only occasionally been known to lay its eggs in other birds' nests as is the dastardly habit of its European relative which has been justly punished by having its simulacrum confined in prisoning clocks. Neither does it repeat its name, but hidden deep in the thicket says monotonously over and over: "cow, cow, cow," sometimes preceding these euphonious - words by a short chuckle. It is often called the "rain crow" because it - is supposed to call more frequently just before a storm. The notes are often heard at night and quite frequently during the time of migration.

The black-billed cuckoo is nearly 12 inches long., It is olive-brown and gray above with gleaming,,. bronzy reflections: Below it is white, and there are white tips to all but the two central tail feathers. The bill is black.

The birds usually keep to the tangled shrubbery, although they have a rapid graceful flight. When among the tangled stems they may be approached quite easily, for they evidently rely on their.

protective coloration. If caterpillars are defoliating shade trees, the cuckoos are immediately on the exterminating job,- bringing their children and all their relatives. They never leave while there is a caterpillar to be seen. They seem particularly fond of the spiny caterpillars avoided by many birds. Often the stomachs are found to be coated with a felted mass of caterpillar hairs. Besides caterpillars they eat grasshoppers, locusts and other insects, and seldom touch cultivated fruit or grain.

The birds arrive in May and leave in September. They build a flat nest carelessly constructed of sticks and twigs which is usually placed in bushes, vines or small trees, usually near the ground but seldom on it. The eggs are pale bluish or greenish and vary in number from two to seven. Incubation starts early, so there may be both young and unhatched eggs in the nest. Although the birds naturally seek the borders of ponds and swamps, a tangle of elderberries and dogwood may lure them near the garden, especially if the shrubbery is near running water. They keep a wary eye on both orchard and garden and reverse the old proverb which states that good children should be seen and not beard, for their complaining notes are often heard, while they do good by stealth.

by: Thomas Fryd.

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