CUCKOOS. 881 



which to deposit lier eggs? If so, the foster-jiarents would harilly be undeceived even 

 when the bird has arrived at maturity. One day, in Upper IJiirmali, I saw a king- 

 crow pursuing what at first I believed to be another of his own species; but a jjeculiar 

 call that the pursued bird was uttering, and some white in its plumage, which I observed 

 as it passed close to me, led me to suppose that it was a drongo-cuckoo, which had, per- 

 haps, been detected (this being the breeding season) about the nest of the Dicriirus. 

 Mr. Blyth relates that he ()btaine<l a i)ure white egg in the same nest with four eggs of 

 IK tnaa-ocercus, and which, he remarks, may have been that of the drongo-cuckoo." 



The tropical regions of the Old World abound in several large, long-tailed, rather 

 high-legged cuckoos, with strong bills, some of which remind us of those of the 

 smaller toucans. They have a muscular formula of ABXV-F, and are generally 

 called ground-cuckoos, on account of their habits. Several are said to mimic pheas- 

 ants in appearance and gait, a similarity which is increased by the large red, naked 

 skin surrounding the eyes of many si)ecies, jieculiaritics which find expression in 

 several of the poj)ular names, as, for instance, crow-pheasant for the common coucal 

 (Centropiis rttjij}ennis). This latter belongs to a grouj) which is characterized by the 

 straight and lengthened claw of the first toe, resembling much that of a lark, whence 

 they have been called ' lark-heel cuckoos.' 



The species constituting the genus Lejndogrammits, residing in the Phili]i]iine 

 Islands, is remarkable, above all the others, for its rounded crest and the black, 

 horny appendages to the feathci-s of tiie heail and throat. 



Not verj' distantly related to the Indo-African ground-cuckoos are those of our 

 hemisphere represented by the curious 'road-runner' (Geococcyx calif omianits). 

 From the accompanying illustration it will be seen that this form also has the skin 

 surrounding the eye, and a largo sjiace behind it, denuded of feathers. Dr. 1{. Shu- 

 feldt has recently described the color of these naked parts as follows : " In life, the 

 eye of Geococcyx is entirely surrounded by a naked area of skin, which both above and 

 anteriorly is colored a decj) Prussian-blue tint. Beneath the eye this gradually ))asses 

 into a pale bluish white, — almost quite white in some lights. The naked s])aee behiml 

 the eye is the most extensive of all. Posteriorly this merges into the orange of the 

 parietal skin-tract, while anteriorly it blends with the other color just mentioned." 

 The parietal spaces are described as being "of a dee]>, though very bright, orange 

 color." We remark, however, that in the colored drawing accompanying the descrij)- 

 tion the spaces mentioned are jnue scarlet. The species in question inhabits 

 California, southern Texas, Xew Mexico, etc., and northern ]iarts of Mexico, in the 

 southern parts of which it is replaced by a nearly allied species, G. cj^niif. The habits 

 are described by Col. A. I. Grayson, as follows : — 



"This remarkable bird, which the Mexicans call 'churea, or correa del caniino ' 

 (road-runner), — so called from the habit it sometimes has of running along a path or 

 road, — seldom fails to attract the attention of the traveler by its solitary and peculiar 

 habits, and often, too, in the mountainous regions and desert countries, where no other 

 living creature is to be seen. Although met with in such localities, it is, however, not 

 entirely confined' to them, as it is an equal habitant of some portions of the thinly 

 wooded parts of the tlerra caliente of the west, where the trees are scrubby and the 

 country open, as the barren and rocky great central plains of Mexico. It seems to 

 l>refer a hilly country, but scantily sujiplied with vegetation, where the numerous spe- 

 cies of cacti form impenetrable thorn thickets. Here the road-runner wandere in soli- 

 tude, subsisting upon grasshoppers, mice, lizards, etc. 



