164 BIRD-PARASITES 



Cuckoos are concerned, they are all true parasites, foist- 

 ing their eggs upon a variety of birds, from the tiny 

 Cotton-tit to the Black Crow. In many instances the 

 female may lay her egg direct in the nest of the foster- 

 parent, but what happens in the case of the Cappok- 

 vogel ? It is physically impossible for even our smallest 

 Cuckoo to obtain ingress into the nest, so the only prac- 

 tical hypothesis is that she lays her egg on the ground 

 and conveys it to the nest in her bill. Many instances 

 of this have been witnessed, by reliable observers, in the 

 case of the European Cuckoo. The very masterly essays 

 on the parasitic habits and nidification of the Cuckoos, 

 by the late Professor A. Newton, of Cambridge, are too 

 long to reproduce here, and we must refer the reader, 

 who wishes to understand something of the variation in 

 the colour of the Cuckoo's egg, and the diversity in the 

 selection of the foster-parent, to his admirable "Dic- 

 tionary of Birds." 



There are three genera of the CuculincR in South Africa, 

 the first two having no crest on the head, but easily 

 distinguishable from one another, the first genus, Cuculus, 

 possessing no metallic plumage, while the members of 

 the second genus (Chrysococcyx) are strongly metallic 

 in coloration ; the third genus (Coccystes) has the head 

 distinctly crested. 



The South African Cuckoo (Cuculus gularis) is slate- 

 grey above, throat, neck and upper breast pale grey, rest 

 of under- surf ace white transversely and narrowly barred 

 with black. Length about 12 J inches. 



It is a migrant from Northern and Central Africa, 

 being found in South Africa between the months of 

 October to March. It does not inhabit the Cape and is 

 scarce in Natal, but is otherwise fairly well distributed. 

 It resides in open bush country. 



