CUCULlDiE. 209 



Suborder COCCYGES. 



(See vol. xvi. page 2,) 



Synopsis of the Families. 



I. Oil-glaud nude; feet zygodactyle .... Cuculidae, p. 209. 

 II. Oil-gland tufted; feet somi-zygo- 



dactylc Musophagidse, p. 435. 



Family CUCULID^. 



(By G. E. SHELLEY.) 



Eeot zygodactyle. 



Palate desmognathous. 



Basipterygoid processes absent. 



Hallux conucctcd with the flexor longus hallucis and not with 

 the flexor perforaiis digitorum, which 'eads to the second, third, and 

 fourth digits. 



Tail-feathers ten (excepting Guira and Crotophaga, which have 

 eight only). 



Pteri/hsis. Dorsal tract furcate between the shoulders. No 

 after-shaft to the feathers. 



Caeca present. 



Banging over the whole of the globe. 



Keij to the Subfamilies. 



a. Tail composed of ten feathers. 



a'. Upper tail-coverts ordinary, not 



reaching beyond the basal half of the 



tail. 



a". Wing long and flat, not fitting to 



the body. Distance from the tip 



of the wing to the tip of the 



secondaries greater than the 



length of either the culmen or the 



tarsus 1. C'Z/C'C/Z/.V.^, p. 210. 



b". Wing shorter and curved to fit the 

 body. 

 a'". Primaries extending distinctly 

 beyond the secondaries ; but 

 the distance from the tip of 

 the wiug to the tip of tlie 

 secondaries less than the length 

 of either the culmen or the 

 tarsus. 



