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Black-billed Cuckoo
Adult--Upper parts drab; tail the same colour, with white tips; under parts pearly white; bill black. Length--11.83.
Breeding Range--Throughout the Eastern States.
The nest is usually larger than that of the preceding species and is less ragged; it is often placed at a greater height from the ground; the material used is about the same. 2 to 5, very rarely 7, greenish-blue eggs are laid (it is probable that where sets of 7 are found they were laid by two birds); they are rather darker than those of the yellow-billed cuckoo, and are without any gloss. Size--1.14 x .80.
The Black-billed Cuckoo may be identified by its black bill, and by the fact that the tail is the same colour as the back and is tipped with white. The nesting habits of this and the preceding species are very similar. The black-billed commences laying about two weeks earlier. Both birds will desert their nest upon small provocation, and will not as a rule allow of a near approach while sitting. In exceptional cases cuckoo's (both yellow and black-billed) eggs are found in the nests of other birds.
There is some doubt as to whether they destroy the eggs of small birds; it is quite possible that they do so, but I have never seen any evidence of it, and, with Dr. Shufeldt, I am inclined to discredit such stories.