CUCKOOS. 99 
Drongos (Dicrurus) (see p. 133), in whose nests they are said to place 
their eggs. The smallest members of the group are the beautiful little 
species of Chrysococcyx found in the Old World, and of these the 
Emerald Cuckoo (C. smaragdineus) (1881) of Africa is the most 
lovely. The hosts selected by these birds are Sun-birds and Finches. 
In America the subfamily is represented by the genus Coccyzus, the 
members of which are not parasitic but build their own nests, and 
are said to be most affectionate parents. The Yellow-billed Cuckoo 
(C. americanus) (1891) has on several occasions visited Great Britain. 
The Indian Koel (Hudynamis honorata) (1896) represents a fruit-eating 
Oriental genus in which the plumage of the sexes is unlike, the male 
being black and the female brown, variously barred, mottled and spotted 
with black and white. The eggs are greenish, blotched with grey 
and brown, and are placed in the nests of Crows. Lastly we must 
mention the extraordinary Channel-bill Cuckoo (Scythrops nove- 
hollandie) (1398), with its great grooved bill, ranging from Celebes to 
Australia. This bird places its eggs in the nests of the Piping Crows. 
[Case 64. ] 
The Crow-Pheasants or Lark-heeled Cuckoos (Centropodine) include 
but a single genus, Centropus (1892-1394), including more than thirty 
species ranging from Africa and Southern Asia to Australia. They are 
not parasitic, but make a large globular nest, generally with an entrance 
in the side, and may often be seen walking on the ground. The Common 
Coucal (C. sinensis) (1892) and several allied forms are exhibited. 
The third subfamily, Phenicuphaine, includes a number of non- 
parasitic forms, with very inferior powers of flight, inhabiting the thick 
bush of the Old and New Worlds, and spending much of their time on 
the ground. ‘To this group belong the various American species of 
Saurothera (1899-1400), Hyeternis (1401), and Piaya (1402-1404), 
locally known as “ Rainbirds” ; the Malkohas of the genera Zanclostomus 
(1407), Rhopodytes (1407 a), Pheenicophaés (1408), Rhamphococcyzx 
(1409-1410), Rhinortha (1405), and Taccocua (1406) from Eastern Asia 
and the neighbouring islands ; the remarkable Philippine species Dasy- 
lophus superciliosus (1412) and Lepidogrammus cumingi (1413) ; and the 
various species of Madagascar Cuckoos (Coua), of which the blue 
species C. carulea (1415) is a striking example. 
The fourth subfamily, Neomorphine, includes the large and handsome 
Pheasant-Cuckoo (Carpococcy« radiatus) (1416) from Borneo, the well- 
known Road-runner or Chaparral-cock (Geococcyx mexicanus) (1418), 
from the thinly wooded or barren plains of South-western N. America, 
and one or two other New World forms. 
Diplopterus nevius (1419) and Dromococcye phasianellus (1420) 
represent the fifth subfamily Diplopterine, found in Central and South 
America. 
Lastly the Crotophagine, also a New World group, includes the 
H2 
