“Let us go over to the brush hedge where the bird seemed to be.  Hush! there he sits upon the limb of a maple.  No—­look a little higher up.  He is perfectly still, and acts as if he was half asleep.  See what a powerful bill he has!  With that he tears away the ugly webs of tent-caterpillars from the fruit trees, and sometimes eats more than forty caterpillars without stopping—­he is so fond of them.  Look at him through the glass, and see if the following description fits him.”

The Yellow-billed Cuckoo

Length about twelve inches.

Upper parts olive-gray or Quaker color all over, smooth and shiny; wings tinged with bright cinnamon, and most of the tail-feathers black, with large white spots at the ends.

Under parts pure white.  Under half of bill yellow.

A Summer Citizen of temperate North America west to the plains.  Travels south for the winter to the West Indies and South America.

A very valuable neighbor, and an officer of high rank in the guild of Tree Trappers.

His brother—­the Black-billed Cuckoo—­is very much like him, except that the tail is not black, its spots are smaller, and he has no yellow on the bill, but a red ring round the eye.

“Kuk-kuk-kuk—­couk—­co-uk—­co-uk!” cried the bird, as he spread his wings and sailed off, giving the children a fine chance to see his long, rounded, black tail with the white spots.  “Are there any Owls in these woods, Uncle Roy?” asked Nat.  “You know we haven’t seen an Owl yet, though we hear one almost every night.”

“Doubtless there are; but the best place to find Owls is in the old wood, far up by the lake, where the lumbermen have their camp.  The Great Horned Owl nests there, and many Hawks besides.  I will take you all there some day, and, if you do not find the birds themselves, you can see the wild places where they like to nest.”

“Couldn’t we go very soon, uncle?  Next week, perhaps?” urged Dodo.

“Fourth of July comes next week,” said Nat, “and uncle said we could go down to the shore again, and take our fire-crackers!  It will be such fun to stick them in rows in the sand and make them sizzle—­more fun even than Owls!  Don’t you think so, Dodo?” he asked anxiously.

“Oh, yes; and then it wouldn’t be polite either not to have fire-crackers on the Fourth of July.  I think the American Eagle or the President or somebody expects children to have fire-crackers.  Mammy Bun says the first American Eagle was hatched on the Fourth of July, you know,” said Dodo earnestly.  “Do you think he was, uncle?”

“No; it was the United States that were hatched on the Fourth of July, seventeen—­seventy—­six,” said Nat, hesitating a little over the date.

“You are both right in a way,” laughed the Doctor; “but you need not give up the Owls in order to celebrate the Eagle’s birthday.  We will have an Eagle’s birthday party at the beach on the Fourth; and on the eighth—­which is Dodo’s birthday, if I am not mistaken—­we will have an Owl party up at the lake!”