THE CUCKOOS 



1771 



trees, sometimes using woodpeckers' holes, making it more difficult to see the in- 

 truder in the dark; and no doubt, when the young bird emerges into daylight, it 

 would startle the old birds to see the young cuckoos of any other color. One of the 

 young cuckoos was shot while being fed by the foster parents, and no doubt the 

 young cuckoo gets rid of the nestling myna at an early period. Of course it might 

 be argued that it would not be necessary to deceive the myna, for other birds take 

 care of their parasites, but perhaps the myna has a greater knowledge of the world." 

 The Indian koel (. honorata) is the rain bird of India. The bird is parasitic on 

 crows, and it would appear from the notes of naturalists in India that the koels 



EGYPTIAN COUCAI,. 



(One-half natural size.) 



must look after their offspring to a certain extent, for they have been seen feeding 

 their own young ones after they have left the nest. 



Distributed over a great part of Africa, India, China, and south- 

 ward through Malaysia to Australia, the coucals form not only a genus, 

 but a separate subfamily. They are ground birds, of medium or large 

 size, remarkable for the long spur on the first toe, whence their English name is 

 derived. They build nests, and lay several white eggs, the shell of which is 

 chalky, showing an approach to the remarkable eggs of the anis described further 



