XXU SYSTEMATIC AKKANCIEMENT 



Family III. Cucultd^e. 



(cuckoos.) 



lUll moderate, rather deeply cleft, both maiidiljles compressed, 

 and more or less curved downwards ; nostrils exposed ; winf^s for 

 the most part short, tail lenr^thened ; toes four, two pointing back- 

 wards, and two forwards, but the outer hind toe of each foot is 

 capable of being placed at right angles with either the inner or 

 outer front toe. A tropical family of birds, many of which migrate 

 to the temperate regions in summer. Not so decidedly clim])ers as 

 the Woodpeckers and Creepers, yet having great powT.r of clinging. 

 Their flight is feeble, their food soft-bodied insects, varied in many 

 cases with berries and other fruits, and some of the larger species 

 will occasionally prey on mice, reptiles, and the eggs and young of 

 birds. Most, perhaps all of the migratory species, lay their eggs in 

 the nests of other birds. * 



72. CucuLUS (Cuckoo). Bill shorter than the head, broad, 

 depressed at the base, with the ridge curved and the sides com- 

 pressed towards the tip, which is entire and acute ; nostrils in a 

 membranous groove, the opening rounded and exposed ; wings 

 pointed, third primary, longest ; tail long, graduated ; tarsi very 

 short, feathered below the heel. Page §17. 



73. CoccYzus (American Cuckoo). Bill as long as the head ; 

 wings short ; tarsus not feathered ; in other respects resembling 

 CucuLUS. Page 325. 



Order IV. GALLINuE. 



(gallinaceous birds.) 



Upper mandible vaulted ; nostrils pierced in a large membranous 

 space at the base of the beak, and covered by a cartilaginous scale : 

 toes three in front, one behind, sometimes articulated high on the 

 tarsus (in the Bustard, wanting) ; claws stout, short, slightly curved, 

 bluntish. 



Family T. Columbip.^. 



(riGEONS.) 



Hind toe nearly on the same plane with the others ; bill moderate, 

 deflected at the tip ; the upper mandible covered at the base with a 

 soft membrane ; tarsi without spurs ; tail of twelve feathers. 



The Pigeons have considerable powers of flight, and perch freely 

 on trees or rocks. Their food consists principally of grain, seeds, 

 and the leaves of herbaceous plants. The young are fed on a milky 

 fluid secreted in the crop of the old birds. 



74. CoLUMBA (Pigeons, Doves). First primary shorter than the 

 second, which is the longest ; tail even ; side toes ecpial. Page 326. 



75. EoTOPisTES (Passenger Pigeon). Wings pointed ; two first 

 primaries ecpial ; tail long and wedge-shaped ; side toes unequal, the 

 inner one longest. Page 340. 



* See Gosse's Natural History, Birds, p. 208. 



