_Coccyzus erythrophthalmus. Case 7, Fig. 2_
A wholly black bill (note that in both our Cuckoos
it is slightly curved), wings without reddish
brown, and small, inconspicuous white tips to the
tail-feathers distinguish this species from the
preceding.
_Range._ A more northern species than the
Yellow-billed Cuckoo. Nests from Virginia (Georgia
in the mountains) to Quebec; winters in tropical
America, reaching the southern States in April.
Washington, rather rare S.R., May 5-Oct. 6.
Ossining, common S.R., May 3-Oct. 7. Cambridge,
common S.R., May 12-Sept. 20. N. Ohio, tolerably
common S.R., May 1-Sept. 25. Glen Ellyn, S.R., May
5-Oct. 21. SE. Minn., common S.R., May 8-Sept. 27.
The day after penning the foregoing notes on the Yellow-billed Cuckoo, I
saw a Black-bill make a prolonged, dashing flight through the open,
alight on the limb of a dead, leafless tree, directly over a young girl
who was calling loudly to an active dog near her, and from this
conspicuous perch utter its low _coo-coo_ notes, both looking and
sounding more like a Dove than a conventional Cuckoo. So while we may
say that the Cuckoos are much alike in habits one must not accept
generalized statements too literally. There is much individuality among
birds, a fact that makes their study far more interesting than if all
were cast in the same mold.
The notes of this species are softer than those of the Yellow-bill, but
the difference between the calls of the two species must be learned from
the birds, not from books. The nest of the Black-bill is the more
compactly built of the two, and its eggs are of a deeper shade.