>n 



CUCULID^S. 



en-run.*. 



by Mr. Visor* U the aberrant group of his SctMorm, between the 



AftJL^J^ sUkll tftM JKsWflmAUi*tl4ff. 



The CtjeWiA* are placed by Mr. Swainaon alao between the 

 OrtAMoW and Jsfasf<nX and theee three families constitute what 

 b* term* hi* third and aberrant eircl* of the Scwum*. The following 

 i* his .Uflnition of the family character : -Feet not strictly soansorial, 

 very short, xxxtrils naked, tail-cover* remarkably long ; and he sepa- 

 rate* th group into the following sub-families : CmaMma, Coetmincr, 

 Smwtl*rm*, OfUktnmima, fmdiaaonma. Of the first sub-family 

 Cmtm. Lmn, U the type; of the second Oxxynu, Vieill. ; of the 



. , 



third Samk*r, TieilL ; of the fourth Opitkomm<u, Hoff. ; and of 

 the fifth Imdamlor, Sparrm. 



The following account of thin family by Mr. Swainson bean the 

 stamp of actual observation. "So faintly is the MBVMtill itnicture 

 indicated in theae birda that but for their natural hnl.it*, joined to 

 otioo of their toes, we ahould not suspect they were no inti- 

 r connected with the more typical group* of the tribe aa they 

 undoubtedly are. They neither use their bill for climbing, like the 

 parrot*, or for making hole* in trees, like the woodpecker*, neither can 

 they mount the perpendicular stems, like the Ccrtkiadrr, or Creeper* ; 

 and yet they decidedly climb, although in a manner peculiar to them- 

 adToa Baring frequently aeen different species of the Brazilian 

 cuckoo* (forming part of the genus Coteynu) in their native forests,' I 

 may safely affirm that they climb in all other directions than that of 

 tb* perpendicular. Their flight is so feeble, from the extreme short- 

 MSB of their wings, that it is evidently performed with difficulty, and 

 it is never exercised but to convey them from one tree to another, and 

 these flights in the thickly-wooded tracts of tropical America are of 

 course very abort : they alight upon the highest boughs, and immedi- 

 ately begin to explore the horizontal and slanting ramifications with 

 the greatest assiduity, threading the most tangled mazes and leaving 

 none unexamined. All soft insects inhabiting such situations lying 

 in their route become their prey, and the quantities that are thus 

 destroyed must be very great In passing from one bough to another 

 they simply hop, without using their winga, and their motion* are so 

 quick, that an unpractised observer, even if placed immediately 

 beneath the tree, would soon lose sight of the bird. The Brazilian 

 banter* give to their cuckoos the general name of Cat's-Tail ; nor is 

 the epithet inappropriate, for their long hanging tails, no less than 

 their mode of climbing the branches, give them some distant resem- 

 blance to that quadruped. I have no doubt that the great length of 

 tail possessed by nearly all the cuckoos is given to them as a sort of 

 balance, just as a rope-dancer, with such an instrument in his hands, 

 preserves his footing when otherwise he would assuredly fall. Remote 

 therefore aa the cuckoos unquestionably are from the typical Scatworet, 

 we yet find the functions of the tail contributing to that office, 

 although in a very different mode to that which it performs among 

 the woodpecker*, the parrots, and the creepers. The structure of the 

 feet, as before observed, ia the only circumstance which would lead an 

 ornithologist to place these birds among the climbers, supposing he 

 was entirely unacquainted with their natural history properly so 

 called, or with their close affinity to the more perfect Semuora. The 

 toes indeed are placed in pairs ; that is, two directed forward and two 

 apparently backward ; but a closer inspection will show that the 

 latter are not xtrictly posterior, and that they differ so very materially 

 from those of the PitwUt (the pre-eminently typical family of the 

 climbers), aa clearly to indicate a different use. The organisation of 

 the external posterior toe of all the woodpeckers, parrota, and toucans, 

 randan it incapable of being brought forward, even in the slightest 

 degree ; nbstea* in the cuckoos this toe can be made to form a right 

 angle with that which is next it in front, from which circumstance it 

 I termed versatile ; this term however is not strictly correct, 

 ~t u the to* cannot be brought more than half way forward, 

 although it can be placed entirely backward. Now this form, which 

 ia obviously the least developed state of the scansorial structure, 

 ' exactly with the rank of the family, which is that of the most 

 t group in th circle, and farthest removed from the type. 

 The etsekoo* a fact are half-perching half-climbing birds, not only in 

 thir fast, bat, as we have -een, in their manners. No one, from 

 tiling than alive, would rappos* they were truly scansorial bir<< ; 

 and yet it U highly probable that this singular power of varying 

 the position of one of their tees gives them that quickness of 

 of holding which accompanies the habit juat 



"That* i* another circumstance in the history of this family of 

 birfa, which, with one solitary exception, is altogether peculiar, aa 

 they raoUin the only parasitic birds yet known. This term indeed 

 bat bsao applied. I think impropariy, to other gmera, which, like the 

 fritrate fttiatm, the )*era, and some of the eagles, rob other birds of 

 their food; bat this U a mere act of thieving, for all these feathered 

 Tobbm can and do habitually depend jot u much upon their own 

 todtistry to procurtog food. Bat witfc the typical ouckoo* the cane is 

 far ditemit, for, by teostUnf their egg* in the neata of other birds, 

 to whom thy lav the oar of hatohins; their young and feeding 

 tbrm arWrwuHa.U^beeocneMtnilyparasiti**. u>yof thVleari 

 r /*.'! . they fasten thMnsahraa, M it ww*, on the living animal, 

 whos animal b**A brofi their yxmnf into life, whoe* food they alone 

 , sad who** d*ath would MUM* their* during the period of 



infancy. Such only i* a parasitic animal, and such only, among birds, 

 belong to the typical cuckoos and their representative, the Uoloihrta 

 pecorii." [MoLoTHHrs.] 



Warm and temperate climates are the chosen haunts of the Cuckoos. 

 The European species there are but two never show themselves in 

 our quarter of the globe, except in the warm weather, quitting it 

 upon the first approaches of a colder temperature. " So congeni.-il n 

 warmth to their nature," says Mr. Swainson in the memoirs last 

 quoted, " that even the mild temperature of an Italian winter ia not 

 sufficient to retard their return to the sultry groves of Northern 

 Africa. There is a fact regarding their structure which appears con- 

 nected with this susceptibility ( cold, and which I believe has not 

 hitherto been noticed. A 11 the cuckooa, both of the old and the new 

 wurlcl, which I have had the opportunity of dissecting, are remarkable 

 for the thinness and delicacy of their skins, so much so indeed aa to 

 render their preservation in an entire state extremely difficult to 

 inexperienced hands. Every one who has skinned the common 

 British species must doubtless have observed this. On the nthrr 

 hand, as if to compensate for the delicacy of the cuticle, the feat I.. >-. 

 more especially upon the back and rump, are unusually thick-set and 

 compact" 



Tropical countries, and those which approach the equator, afford 

 the greatest number of species. 



The food of the Cuckoos, as might be expected from this geogra- 

 phical distribution, consists principally of soft fruits and soft insects, 

 especially the latter, and more particularly when they are in the 

 larva state. 



Cnculiiut include the genuine Cuckoos. This nub-family has the 

 following character* : Bill wiiler at the bane than it is high, rather suH - 

 denly contracted behind the nostrils and becoming compressed ; upper 

 mandible slightly sinuous at the tip, so as to assume the form of the 

 dentirostal notch. Wings considerably long, nearly reaching to two- 

 thirds the length of the tail, and so far pointed as to diminish rapidly 

 in length beyond the fourth quill. Feet remarkably short; tarsus 

 thickly clothed with feathers for nearly half its length, not longer than 

 the hallux or true hind toe. Upper cover-feathers of the tail thick- 

 set, narrow, generally pointed, and comparatively elongated, and in 

 rigidity only comparable to those of the Ctblepyrina, the corresponding 

 type in the Laniadce. 



"Popular interest," adds Mr. Swainson, "has been so much cof- 

 fined to the parasitic habits of the cuckoo, that upon many other 

 points of its economy we are still in comparative ignorance. Hence it 

 is that we cannot trace, so fully an could be wished, the influence 

 which the structure just described exercises upon the habits and 

 manners of such birds as possess it We know however that all the 

 genuine cuckoos fly with strength and rapidity. Host of them, in 

 fact, are migratory birds. .... The form of the nostrils in the 

 typical cuckoos is very peculiar, and I believe that future observations 

 will shew this structure to b intimately connected with their para- 

 sitic habits. The nesta of those species in which the cuckoo deposits 

 its eggs, we all know, are built in the thickest and most central part 

 of trees and bushes, to discover whioh, superior powers of smell have 

 been given to the toucans (which feed upon the eggs or young), and, 

 in a lees degree, are probably conferred upon the cuckoos, to facilitate 

 their search after a foster-parent for their young. How far this idea 

 may be correct future observations will determine. Certain however 

 it is, that this peculiar-shaped nostril ia restricted to auch cuckoos as 

 are parasitic, for the whole of the Coccyrina- have the aperture of a 

 lengthened oval shape, or in the form of a slit, and all we know of 

 these birds sanctions the idea that they are not parasitic. Tim 

 shortness of the feet, in the typical cuckoos, ia another important 

 distinction, and leade to the belief that these members are mu. 1 

 used than those of the Coccyzina, whose habits we have already 

 mentioned when alluding to the cuckoos of South America, all of 

 which are excluded from the group now under consideration." 



CJ Bill broad at the base, compresed beyond, the upper 

 mandible obsolctely notched ; nostrils circular, with a tumid margin 

 wing* long, pointed, the third quill longest, the second and fourth of 

 equal length ; feet slender, very short, tarsi feathered posteriorly 

 almost to the toes ; rump and upper tail-covers long, thick-set, and 

 rigid. InhabiU the Old World. Parasitic. 



C. eanonu, the Cuckoo. It is the Krf*>tu{ of the Greeks ; Cucaftu and 

 Cteeyx of the Romans ; Cucculo, Cucco, Cuco, Cucho, Cuccu, of the 

 Italians; Cocuo, Couoou, Coqu, of the French ; Kukuk and Kuckuck 

 of the Germans ; Gjok of the Fauna Suecica ;' Gjoeg of the Danes 

 Gonk of the Norwegians ; Cog of the Welsh ; Gowk and Cuckoo of 

 the Hntiah. 



Length about 14 inches, weight about four ounces and a half. 

 Hill black, yellowish at the base of the upper mandible : ini.b- ,.f 



"'h red. Irides yellow. Head, and whole H]J|MT ]^rt of t.hr bir-i, 



dark ash-colour. Throat, under side of the neck, and upper part of 

 breast, pale ash, the latter sometimes inclining to rufous brown ; lower 

 part of broast and belly white, with transverse undulating black lines. 

 Quills dusky, inner webs barred with white oval spots. Tail-feathers 

 ten, of unequal length ; two middle ones black, dashed with n> 

 tipped with white, the rest black, with white spot* on each id of th 

 shaft The lateral feather* in some have white spots only on thfc 

 interior webs, but all are tipped with white. Female, rather lew than 



