138 THE STORY OF THE BIRDS 



portion of the Australian Region (from Timor to 

 North-east Australia, and New Guinea). The 

 fifth family, the Lories (Loriidae), are essentially 

 a group peculiar to the Australian Region. The 

 sixth family, the Mountain Parrots (Nestoridas), 

 are confined to New Zealand. 



The Cuculiformes are composed of two 

 famihes, the Plantain-Eaters and the Cuckoos, 

 the former of which is of restricted distribution, 

 whilst the latter may be, broadly speaking, almost 

 classed as cosmopolitan. The Plantain-Eaters 

 (Musophagidae) are confined to the Ethiopian 

 Region, but they do not extend to Madagascar. 

 The Cuckoos (Cuculida;) are divisible into half- 

 a-dozen sub-families, which are distributed as 

 follows. The Typical Cuckoos (Cuculinae) are 

 almost exclusively an Old World group, where 

 they are represented in all of the great zoological 

 regions ; a few species are found in the New 

 World, where they range over the Nearctic and 

 Neotropical Regions. The Coucals (Centro- 

 podinae) are exclusively an Old World group, 

 distributed over the Ethiopian Region, the 

 Oriental and Australian Regions. The Couas 

 and Rain Birds (Phoenicophainae) have a some- 

 what peculiar distribution, being found in 

 Madagascar, in the Indian Region, and in 



