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China has 16 species, none of which 

 are peculiar to the country. Five 

 species frequent the Yangtse Valley. 



COMMON CUCKOO. 



CUCULUS CANORUS TELEPHONUS 

 HEINE. 



Description. — Length thirteen in- 

 ches. Bill horn color, yellow at the 

 base and the edges. Legs and toes 

 light yellow. Iris greyish or reddish 

 brown. 



Head neck and upper breast ash 

 grey. Back and wings darker. Abdo- 

 men white barred with black. Prima- 

 ries barred on inner webs with white. 

 Tail long, dark, and graduated, some- 

 times with a gloss of green on its 

 upper surface. 



The tints of the female incline to 

 brown rather than grey. 



The yo2mg have some of the feathers 

 and the tail tipped with white. 



Distribiction. — Europe, North Africa, 

 and all Asia. It is a common summer 

 visitant in the Yangtse Valley. 



Breeding Habits and Eggs. — This 

 cuckoo, like the others of its kind, 

 does not build a nest or sit upon its 

 eggs except in very rare cases. It 

 lays its egg upon the ground and then 

 takes it in its bill and carries it to the 

 nest of the bird which it has chosen to 

 raise its young : sometimes it may lay 

 the eggs directly into the nest. 



The eggs vary greatly in color, but 

 usually have a ground-color of various 

 shades of very light green, spotted and 

 blotched with dark brown and purplish 

 spots. They are usually much larger 

 than the eggs of the birds in whose 

 nests they are deposited. 



