18. Black-billed Cuckoo (Magnolia

After the summer showers, the ground is seen covered with multitudes of very small frogs, of a brownishblack colour, which many of the inhabitants foolishly suppose to have descended from the clouds. Some of these I have occasionally found in the stomach of the Black-billed Cuckoo. Vol. 1, 170

—J. J. Audubon

Magnolia is a large genus with some 210 species worldwide. The Southeastern United States is the center of the natural range of the eight species of native magnolias. The Davis Arboretum has all eight species of magnolias. our native species bloom in late spring or early summer, unlike the Asian relatives that typically bloom in early spring and are often hit by a frost, which kills the blooms. The only species that is reliably evergreen is the southern magnolia you see here. A little further down the path you will see one of the deciduous natives, the bigleaf magnolia (Magnolia macrophylla), which can have leaves up to forty-five inches long. Fig. 42. Cucumber magnolia (Magnolia acuminata)

AMeRICAN CRoW, Plate ClVI

Black Walnut

Juglans nigra

The fruit (nut) of the black walnut has a brownish-green, semifleshy husk and a brown, corrugated nut, which is small and very hard. The entire fruit falls in October. Fruiting may begin when the tree is four to six years old, however large crops require twenty years of growth. The tree tends to crop more heavily in alternate years. The lifespan of J. nigra is about 130 years. Historically, pulverized black walnut husks provided insecticides, fish poison, and black dye. Black walnut is highly prized for its darkcolored heartwood. It is heavy and strong, yet easily split and worked. Walnut wood has been used for gunstocks, furniture, flooring, paddles, coffins, and a variety of other wood products. The roots, nut husks, and leaves secrete a substance into the soil called juglone, which is a respiratory inhibitor to some plants. A number of plants are poisoned by juglone and should not be planted in close proximity to a black walnut. The black walnut is a preferred host of the beautiful luna and regal moths.

“I have placed the pensive oppressed Crow of our country on a beautiful branch of the Black Walnut tree, loaded with nuts, on the lower twig of which I have represented the delicate nest of our Common Humming Bird, to fulfill the promise which I made when writing the history of that species for my first volume” (AudubonVol. 2, 322).*

* “Hummingbirds on a Trumpet Vine” (Plate XLVII) is number 11 in this guide.

The American crow (Corvus brachyrhynchos), which occurs in a wide variety of habitats, is a common year-round resident throughout most of the United States.

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