248 BIEDS OF SOUTH AFRICA. 



reflections ; bill yellow, with blackish spot in front. Length, 

 13"; wing, 4" 6'"; tail, 9". 



Kaffrai'ia and Pgrt Natal— Wbalborg (Hartl. loc. cit.) Natal — 

 Gurney (Ibis, 1859, p. 248). Rare — frequents dense busb, and creeps 

 about Hke tbe colies ; feeds on locusts and grassboppers, — (Ayres, 

 " Ibis," loc. cit.) 



The Sub-Family, CUCULIN^, or Cuckows, 



have the bill broadband rather depressed at the base; the 

 eulmen curved, and the sides compressed to the tip, which is 

 entire, or slightly emarginated ; the nostrils basal, and mem- 

 branous, with the opening exposed ; the wings long, and 

 generally pointed ; the tail long, and usually graduated ; the 

 tarsi short, partly clothed with feathers, and partly coTsred 

 with broad scales. 



Genus CFCULUS, Linn, 



Bill broad, and rather depressed at the base, with the eul- 

 men curved, and the sides gradually compressed towards the 

 tip, which is entire and acute ; the gonys long and arched p 

 the nostrils basal, lateral, and placed in a short broad mem- 

 branous groove, with the opening round and exposed ; wingo 

 lengthened and pointed, with the third quill the longest ; tail 

 long, graduated, or even, and the outer feather on each side 

 shorter than the others ; tarsi very short, feathered below the 

 knee, and the exposed part covered with broad scales ; toes 

 unequal, the outer anterior toe the longest, and united to the 

 inner one at the base, 



490. OUCUIUS SolitariUS, Cuv.; Vol. 2, p. 454; 

 Le Coucou Solitaire, Le Tail., No. 206 ; Shaw, Vol. 

 IX., Pi 1, p. 84 ; C. Capenais, Lath.; C. Rubiculus, 

 Swain. Nat Lib., Vol. 12, p. 181. 



General colour above, greyish-black, lightest on the fore- 

 head ] chin cinereous, passing into rufous on the breast ; body 

 beneath, fulvous- white, barred with black ; under tail-coverts 

 immaculate ; the tail-feathers have four white spots along the 

 shafts, and are otherwise mottled with white ; legs bright- 

 yellow. Length, 12" 6'" ; wing, 7" 6'" ; tail, 6" 6'". 



Tbis cuckoo, known among tbe colonists by tbe name of '' PietiiiiJ7i- 

 vrouw," from its call resembling these words, is a periodical visitant 

 ©Tcr tbe wbole colony, extending even as far as tbe Cape peninsula. 

 TKey generally make tbeir appearance from November till Christmas 



