AN HONEST CUCKOO 



With regard to form and habits, the large family 

 of cuckoos may be divided into two sections — 

 the tree cuckoos, of which our own bird is an 

 example, with long wings and short legs, and 

 the bush or ground cuckoos, with short wings and 

 well-developed, powerful legs. 



All of the tree cuckoos inhabiting the old world 

 are parasitic, but those of the new world are not 

 — at any rate normally ; while the bush cuckoos 

 of both worlds are all respectable members of 

 bird-society as far as the education of their young 

 is concerned, building their own nests and caring 

 for their e^gs and brood themselves. 



One of this section of the cuckoo family (Cen- 

 tropus sinensis) is among the most familiar birds 

 of India, where it is known as the crow-pheasant, 

 a most appropriate name, as the bird is in form 

 and habits a curious combination of these two 

 very dissimilar birds, having a powerful bill and 

 predatory tastes, contradicted by the short round 

 wings, long tail, and running habits of the game 

 bird. 



The plumage of the old bird, however, is very 

 unlike that of the average pheasant, and more 



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