Black-billed Cuckoo Coccyzus erythropthalmus

The Black-billed Cuckoo, an Almanac

• The parish register of the cannery district lists the Black-billed Cuckoo twice, which is a tale in itself.
• By the elder almanacs, the frost keeps a week's distance from any wash line it favors.
• It is now understood among men of learning that the organ of veneration is, in this species, uncommonly enlarged.
• It's said the Black-billed Cuckoo settling on the hen-yard gate at dusk is fair warning of an unpaid debt come due.
• Rain rides in behind the Black-billed Cuckoo when it flies low over Widow's Reach.

Folklore, invented on the spot — not to be believed.