1764 



THE PICARIAN BIRDS 



of the tendons of the muscles of the foot is different from that in the first group. 

 As a family, the cuckoos are specially distinguished by having a zygodactyle foot, 

 and a naked oil gland; the after shafts to the body feathers are wanting, and the 

 arrangement of the feathers shows the tract on the back forked between the shoul- 

 ders. They are birds of universal distribution, very varied in form and habits, some 

 being entirely parasitic, while others build nests. They are divided into six sub- 

 families, and while the usual number of tail feathers is ten, in one group (Croto- 

 phagina) only eight are present; the other subfamilies are well distinguished. 



GREAT SPOTTED CUCKOO. 

 (Three eighths natural size.) 



The first representatives of the typical subfamily Cuculin& are the 

 crested cuckoos, which, in common with the other members of the 

 group, have pointed wings, and are strong fliers. The genus is dis- 

 tinguished by the presence of a crest on the head; and of its eight species five are 

 African, while one (Coccystes jacobinus) is common to Africa and India, another (C. 

 coromandus) is peculiar to the Indian region, and the last is European. Although 



Crested 



Cuckoos 



