35« 



CUCULIFORMES 



regions or barren plains. Tbe plumage is brownish, with white 

 margins to the feathers and a purple tinge on the rufous-mottled 

 head, neck, and breast ; the back is greener, the tail more lilac, 

 the abdomen white, the bare orbits blue and red. With its long 

 stout legs this species covers the ground very quickly, running 

 with outstretched neck, elevated crest, slightly expanded wings,, 

 and jerking tail, or springing into trees and taking brief flights : 



Fig. 70. — Radiated Grouud-Cuckoo. Carpococcyx radiatus. x -i. (From Xdtun'.) 



it is even difficult to outpace it with dogs or on horseback. It 

 eats insects, snapping some in the bill as it leaps into the air, 

 and enjoys grasshoppers, mice, and lizards ; in captivity it is 

 thievish. The note is low, the beak being occasionally clattered. 

 The nest of twigs and grass, placed in buslies, contains from 

 three to nine white eggs, the male apparently assisting in incuba- 

 tion. Carpococcyx radiatus of Borneo, and C. viridis of Sumatra, 

 are the only Old World species in this group. 



Sub-fam. 5. Biplopterinae. — Biplopterus naevius, a pale l^rown 



