1919-] Birds of ihe Canary Islands. 459 



now remember whetlier tliey belonged to the small or typical 

 race. In his Vog. pal. Faun. p. 945, he wrote under Cuculus 

 canorus cunorus : " Auf den Canaren und Madeira sind die 

 Kuckucke nur gelegentliche Durchzugler, sie iiberwintern 

 aber in fast ganz AfVika siidlich der Sahara. '^ 



Range. Typical C. c. canorus is found throughout Europe. 

 It winters in Africa south of the Sahara. 



Cuculus canorus minor. The Lesser Cuckoo. 

 Cuculus canorvs minor Brehm, Allg. D. Naturh. Zeitung, 

 Nene Folge, iii. 1857, p. 444 — Type locality : Spain. 



This small race of the European Cuckoo is an Occasional 

 Visitor to the Canary Archipelago during the spring and 

 autumn migration. 



Meade-Waldo, during the four years he spent in the 

 islands, found it to be an irregular spring visitor, and 

 records many which came to the islands on the 25th of 

 April, 1890, and remained for a few days (Ibis, 1890, 

 p. 429). He notes that these birds were all " very small 

 and dark in colour" (Ibis, 1893, p. 195). A specimen 

 which he shot at Orotava on the 4th of May, 1890, and 

 which presumably belonged to this identical migration, is 

 now in the British Museum. It is unquestionably C. c. minor, 

 although it does not appear to be extraordinarily dark, yet 

 it is certainly a very small specimen and has a wing 

 measuring oidy 190 mm. It is an adult i)ird, but the sex 

 has not been ascertained. 



C. c. minor has until recently been confused with C. c. 

 canorus by most writers on Canarian ornithology. It may 

 i)e generally distinguished by its much smaller size, wing 

 190-217 mm., as against 216-230 mm. in C. c. canorus. 

 A bird in the British Museum from Madeira has a wing of 

 20(5 mm., which appears to be the average size. 



Range. The Lesser Cuckoo occurs in Spain, Morocco, 

 Algeria, and Tunisia, on migration, rarely in Madeira, and 

 more often in the Canaries. It appears to reach the Gold 

 Coast on the west coast, and British East Africa on the 

 east coast. 



SliK. XI. VOL. I. 5 k 



