MISCELLANEOUS BIRDS. 153 



covered with mottl'ngs, bars and striations, of a darker shade. Like 

 the woodpeckers it builds its nest in holes in trees, but it does not 

 excavatp these itself. It has a delicate narrow bill eminently uusuited 

 to such an undertaking. 



Closely following the wryneck comes the cuckoo, not only in its 

 north bound migration, but also in the position to which ornithologists 

 have assigned it in their aiTangements and classification of birds. The 

 cuckoo is too familiar a bird to need any description. There seem to be 

 two distinct species recognisable by their calls. One is the common 

 cuckoo {Curuliis canorus), which gives the call so familiar to all of us. 

 The other, the Asiatic cuckoo {C. inter mcdias) keeps to the wooded 

 areas and utters a call which can only be rendered by the syllable 

 U'hoom whoom irhoom oft repeated in a low key with an indescribable 

 resonance. I found both species very common in the Manchurian forests, 

 but they were unapproachable. Indeed, excepting on one occasion, 

 I have never succeeded in securing any but immature specimens. 



It is well known how small birds will mob a cuckoo when they find 

 one in the open. It has been found that the male cuckoo deliberately 

 seeks this mobbing so as to draw the small birds away from their nest, 

 thus giving the female a chance of depositiing her egg in the nest of a 

 suitable host. 



Skipping a number of Picarian families, which do not seem to be 

 represented in North China, we come to the swifts and nightjars. A 

 great many people seem to think these are classed with the swallows 

 and martins. This popular error is not to be wondered at, for a swift 

 certainly bears a remarkable resemblance to a martin. One look at 

 the feet, however, and all doubt is dispelled. Small, sharply clawed, 

 feathered to the toes and of awkward shape the foot of a swift, and to 

 an even greater extent, that of the nightjar, is certainly not that of a 

 perching bird. As a matter of fact the swift family is called Micro- 

 poclidne, which means "small feet." The three members of this family 

 in North China are the white-rumped swift {Cypsdus pacificus), the 

 North China swift {C. pekinensis) and the spinetailed swift (AcanthylUa 

 cavdata). The North China swift is a well known bird, being a regular 

 summer visitor. It rears its young in holes in the eaves of temples, 

 gate towers and other grand old-buildings. In the evenings, when it is 

 most busy, its shrill whistling fills the air, and is a most pleasant sound. 

 Like the swallows the young can fly as soon as they are fledged, though 

 occasionally a young bird, wh.'ch has left the nest too soon, may be 

 picked up from the ground. Swifts find great difficulty in rising from 

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