i;66 



THE PIC A RI AN BIRDS 



while the black cuckoo (C. clamosus} is, as its Latin name implies, a noisy bird, 

 uttering a very loud harsh note. The Indian cuckoo (C. micropterus) , has a note, 

 which Mr. Gates renders as bho-kusha-kho, while the Asiatic cuckoo (C. interme- 

 dius\ on the other hand, has only a single note, a guttural and hollow-sounding 

 hoo, resembling the cry of the hoopoe. One of the most interesting of all birds is 

 the common cuckoo ( C. canorus} , not the least remarkable feature in its conforma- 

 tion being its great similarity to a hawk, as not only evidenced by its color and 

 form, but by its mode of flight, and which is so marked that the bird is always 

 mobbed by smaller birds, as if it were really a hawk. Its color is gray above and 



COMMON CUCKOO. 



(One-half natural size.) 



white below, regularly barred with black like a hawk, while the throat is buff. It 

 has also long thigh feathers, like those of an accipitrine bird, so that with its yellow 

 eyes the resemblance is complete, and when flying it is by no means easy to tell at 

 the first glance whether it is a cuckoo or a hawk in the air. An accustomed eye 

 may at last detect the more elongated look of the head, owing to the long bill of the 

 cuckoo, whereas a hawk in flight often looks as if it had no bill at all, so blunt is the 

 aspect of a hawk's head when seen at a little distance. The interest in the history 

 of the cuckoo is, however, concentrated on its nesting habits, and the success with 



