. The birds about us. Birds. 156 The Birds About Yellow-billed Cuckoo. appearance the parents are fully aroused to their re- sponsibilities and look well after them; supply in- numerable cater- '' pillars and every discoverable form of uncanny slug; and when you happen to go too near the nest, the old birds will go into hysterics, or make believe to, hoping to completely fool you as to the whereabouts of the nest. Wilson speaks of this habit as follows: " While the female is sitting the male is generally not far distant, and gives the alarm by his notes when any person is approaching
. The birds about us. Birds. 156 The Birds About Yellow-billed Cuckoo. appearance the parents are fully aroused to their re- sponsibilities and look well after them; supply in- numerable cater- '' pillars and every discoverable form of uncanny slug; and when you happen to go too near the nest, the old birds will go into hysterics, or make believe to, hoping to completely fool you as to the whereabouts of the nest. Wilson speaks of this habit as follows: " While the female is sitting the male is generally not far distant, and gives the alarm by his notes when any person is approaching. The female sits so close that you may almost reach her with your hand, and then precipitates herself to the ground, feigning lameness, to draw you away from the spot, fluttering, trailing her wings, and tumbling over in the manner of the partridge, woodcock, and many other species. Both parents unite in providing food for the young. This consists for the most part of caterpillars, particularly such as infest apple-trees. The same insects constitute the chief part of their own ; The Black-billed Cuckoo has always been, in my experience, a lover of willow-trees that overhung the water. This, of course, is a mere coincidence, but I have never failed to find them, I believe, while wan- dering about the creeks that have so generally a row of pollards on one or both banks, or among the weeping-willows that fringe the mill-ponds. From trees on the water's edge the cuckoos will dart out. Please note that these images are extracted from scanned page images that may have been digitally enhanced for readability - coloration and appearance of these illustrations may not perfectly resemble the original Abbott, Charles C. (Charles Conrad), 1843-1919. Philadelphia : J. B. Lippincott
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1890, booksubjectbirds, bookyear1895
