(BLACK-BILLED CUCKOO.)
+Coccyzus melanocoryphus+, _Scl. et Salv. Nomencl._ p. 108;
_Durnford, Ibis_, 1877, p. 186 (Buenos Ayres); _Barrows, Auk_,
1884, p. 28 (Entrerios); _Withington, Ibis_, 1888, p. 468 (Lomas
de Zamora). +Coccyzus seniculus+, _Burm. La-Plata Reise_, ii. p.
444 (Paraná, Tucuman).
_Description._--Above pale greyish brown; head cinereous; a black
stripe through the eyes: beneath white, more or less tinged with
ochraceous; tail black, tipped with white; two central rectrices
like the back; bill black: whole length 11·5 inches, wing 4·7, tail
5·7. _Female_ similar.
_Hab._ South America.
The "Coucou," so called from its note, is the commonest species of the
genus in the Argentine Republic, and has an extensive range in South
America. In September it migrates south, and a pair or a few individuals
reappear faithfully every spring in every orchard or plantation on the
pampas. At intervals its voice is heard amidst the green trees--deep,
hoarse, and somewhat human-like in sound, the song or call being
composed of a series of notes, like the syllables _cou-cou-cou_,
beginning loud and full and becoming more rapid until at the end they
run together. It is a shy bird, conceals itself from prying eyes in the
thickest foliage, moves with ease and grace amongst the closest twigs,
and feeds principally on large winged insects, for which it searches
amongst the weeds and bushes near the ground.
The nest is the flimsiest structure imaginable, being composed of a few
dry twigs, evidently broken by the bird from the trees and not picked
up from the ground. They are laid across each other to make a platform
nest, but so small and flat is it that the eggs frequently fall out from
it. That a bird should make no better preparation than this for the
great business of propagation seems very wonderful. The eggs are three
or four in number, elliptical in form, and of a dull sea-green colour.