SCANSORES. 



213 



Others have cylindrical oi much less angular bills, and smooth firm plumage,— the Mrfanerpes, Swainson, to 

 which the well-known Red-headed Woodpecker of North America appertains. These are the most frugivorous of 

 any, and sometimes feed on the eggs of other birds, even entering Pigeon-houses for that purpose. Their colours 

 are disposed in large masses. 



The Green Woodpeckers, or Poppinjays, (Gecinus, Boie ; Chrytoptiltu, Swainson,) constitute another subdi- 

 vision, remarkable for the inner emargination of the sternum being much smaller than the outer, and for barred 

 plumage in the young, which corresponds with the adult garb of certain species with slightly arcuated bills, that 

 compose the Culaptes, Swainson : these two subdivisions are closely allied together, and the members of tin m 

 frequently descend to feed at ant-hills, being exclusively insectivorous : there are two in Europe of the first, of 

 which the common Green Woodpecker of Britain may be cited as an example, as the equally common Golden- 

 winged Woodpecker of North America may be of the other. The species of both are remarkable for contorting 

 the neck in the same manner as the Wrynecks. 



Some additional subdivisions have been proposed, which are less admissible.] 



The Wrynecks (Yunx, Lin.) — 

 Have the tongue extensible, as in the 'Woodpeckers, and by the same mechanism, but without spines ; 

 their straight and pointed bill is somewhat rounder and less angular, and the tail is similarly com- 

 posed, but broad, soft, and flexible [at the extremity, notwithstanding which the shafts are tolerably 

 firm, and the bird leans on them when clinging]. They live pretty much as the Woodpeckers, except 

 that they seldom climb, [and feed principally on Ants. Their flight is swift, and not undulating as in 

 the Woodpeckers. 



Two species only are known, one common in Europe as a summer visitant, appearing in Britain rather plenti- 

 fully. Its size is that of a Lark, and colour elegantly pencilled brown and ash, resembling a lichened branch. 

 This bird arrives early in the spring, and is well known for its frequently reiterated cry, which resembles that of 

 the smaller Falcons; it often repeats this note, holding on to a perpendicular twig. Instinctively trusting to the 

 close resemblance of its tints to the situations on which it alights, it will lie close, and sometimes even suffer itself 

 to be taken by the hand ; or on such occasions will twirl its neck in the most extraordinary manner, rolling the 

 eyes, and erecting the feathers on the crown and throat, occasionally raising the tail, and performing the most 

 ludicrous movements; then, taking advantage of the surprise of the spectator, will suddenly dart off like an 

 arrow. It breeds in the holes of trees, and lays several polished white eggs, resembling those of a Woodpecker.] 



The Piculets (Picumnus, Tem.) — 

 Scarcely differ from the Wrynecks, except by a very short tail, [which is soft, and held elevated, like 

 that of a Wren. Their beak and tongue are rather, however, those of a true Woodpecker, which they 

 exactly resemble in their whole anatomy]. They are very small birds, and there is even one of them 

 which is destitute of the small hind-toe. 



The Cuckoos (Cuculus, Lin.) — 



Have the beak of mean length, rather deeply cleft, compressed, and slightly arcuated ; the tail long, 



[with ten feathers only]. They subsist on insects [and fruits], and are mostly migratory. [Have a 



lax stomach, coeca like those of the Owls, and no gall-bladder]. We subdivide this numerous group as 



follows. 



The True Cuckoos (Cuculus, Cuv.) — 



Have the beak of medium strength, and short [partly feathered] tarsi. They are celebrated for the 



singular habit of depositing their eggs in the nests of insectivorous [as well as granivorous] birds; 



and, what is not less extraordinary, the foster-parents, often of species much inferior in size, bestow as 



much care on the young Cuckoo as upon their own proper nestlings, even although the deposition of 



the strange egg is preceded [or rather, (as we have asceruuned,) succeeded, which is still more curious,] 



by the destruction of whatever others may have been in the nest : [or, if other eggs are 



subsequently laid, and hatched with the young Cuckoo, the latter is endowed with the astonishing 



instinct, about the eighth day, of ejecting its helpless companions by insinuating itself under them, and 



then by a jerk casting them successively over the rim of the nest]. The cause of this phenomenon, 



unique [so far as is known, with the exception of the Molothrabs (p. 202),] in the bistorj of Birds, is 



vet unknown, [but appears, we conceive, to be immmediately connected with the structure of the 



reproductive organs; and to be necessitated bj the fact of the female Cuckoo requiring several days to 



intervene between the deposition of each successive rt'u r . live or si\ in in un her, for which reason she 



could not well incubate her own : certain it is, however, thai although a great proportion of the VOUUg 



I uckoos are not hatched till after their parents have migrated southward, the female b.is been often 



sen to loiter about in the vicinity of her offspring, which she has been known to entice away when it 



