CUCULID.E. 



CUCULID^E. 



male, and differiug from him generally in the neck and breast being 

 of a tawnyish brown, barred with dusky, and the coverts of the wings 

 marked with light ferruginous spots. Tail-feathers and quills much 

 like those of the male, but the edges of the spots incline to reddish- 

 brown. Legs in both sexes short and yellow. Outer tail-feather and 

 first quill remarkably abort 



Cuckoo (Oucuha caiiorut), male. 



The young is so distinct in its plumage from the adult that it has 

 been described as a distinct species (C. rufiu, Bria). It is supposed 

 not to throw off its nestling feathers till the second year's moulting, 

 for it is stated in Montagu's ' Dictionary ' (last edit.), that in three 

 specimens killed the same season ( two mains and a female ), the 

 thirteenth and three succeeding quill-feathers, and the three greater 

 coverts impending them, are barred with brown and ferruginous. In 

 the first year the irides are grayish ; the whole upper plumage is a 

 mixture of dusky black and ferruginous, in transverse bars, except 

 the forehead and a patch on the back of the head, which in this 

 specimen described in Montagu was white, and the tips of tlu scapu- 

 lars pale ; the feathers of the whole under parts sullied white, with 

 distant transverse bars of dusky black. In general each feather is 

 barred twice or thrice. The sides of the neck and breast are tinged 

 with rufous ; lateral tail-feathers and inner webs of the quills more or 

 less barred with white. Tail covert*, which, as well as the feathers 

 on the rump, are unusually long, dashed with cinereous and slightly 

 tipped with white. 



The Common Cuckoo arrives in this country early in spring. In 

 White's ' Naturalist's Calendar,' the Cuckoo is noted as first heard 

 April 7-26, and in Markwick's, April 15, May 3 ; last heard June 28. 

 By the 1st of July it has almost always taken its departure, but it is 

 sometimes later. Mr. Swainson, in his ' Memoir on the Cuculidae,' says, 

 " The common species comes to us every spring, from northern Africa 

 or Asia Minor, and returns in autumn. This we know from personal 

 observation ; for vast numbers arrive in the spring iu Sicily and 

 Naples, in company with the bee-eaters, orioles, hoopoes, and other 

 migratory birds ; but after remaining a short time, they appear to 

 direct their flight northward, from whence they return in August and 

 September." Speaking of the food, the same author observes, " The 

 English cuckoo, no doubt, searches for its food among foliage, but its 

 nature is so shy that we have never been fortunate enough to witness 

 its mode of feeding." Montagu however, one of the best authorities 

 we can cite, says, that " its principal food consists of caterpillars, so 

 that it not only possesses the general cast of colours, and much of the 

 structure of ite prototypes, the Ceblepyrina, but actually feeds on the 

 same description of insects." The Editor of the ' Magazine of Zoology 

 and Botany' adds, "In an open and muirland district where the 

 cuckoo is very common, we have always found, during May and June, 

 that their stomachs were filled with the remains of caterpillars which 

 fed on the various plants frequent in such localities. Among them 

 those gf the Laxiwampre formed a great proportion, and hairy species 

 seem to be preferred." White, in his ' History of Selborne,' thus 

 writes : " In July I saw several cuckoos skimming over a large pond ; 

 and found, after some observation, that they were feeding on the 

 Libellultt, or Dragon-Flies ; some of which they caught as they settled 

 on the weeds, and some as they were on the wing." The following 

 narrative from the last edition of Montagu's ' Dictionary ' will throw 

 a iiiji: light on this part of the subject : " A young cuckoo, brought to 

 Colonel Montagu in the month of July, just as it could fly, was, by 

 great care, kept alive till the fourteenth of December. It had, during 

 that time, two or three attacks of dys.ntory, from which it recovered 



by having chalk and ginger given to it ; and during the time it lived 

 no change was observed to have taken place in its plumage. For two 

 months after this bird was caught, it never attempted to feed itself by 

 picking; and even to the last moment seemed to prefer being fed by 

 the hand of its mistress rather than have the trouble of picking up 

 its food, of which it was extremely choice. Nothing appeared to be 

 acceptable as a substitute for insects except raw beef. 1'lies it would 

 eagerly devour ; but its most delicious morsel was any species of hairy 

 caterpillars ; these it seized with avidity, shook them to death, and 

 softened by passing several times through the bill, till they were 

 perfectly pliant, when it would swallow whole the largest of the 

 caterpillars of the egger or drinker moths. Of strangers it was 

 extremely fearful, fluttering in its cage to avoid their attentions ; but 

 it would quietly suffer itself to be handled and caressed by a young 

 lady who had been its kind benefactress, appearing to like the warmth 

 of her hand to its feet." 



It is the habit of the Cuckoo in depositing her egg in the nest of 

 another bird that has made it so much an object of curiosity. Many 

 strange stories were formerly rife on this custom, which can hardly be 

 called abandonment, as the nest of a bird that feeds its young with 

 insects is always selected. Among others, the hedge-sparrow, the 

 reed-sparrow, the tit-lark, the water-wagtail, the yellow-hammer, &c., 

 have been recorded as the birds to whom the egg has been committed, 

 but the first seems to be most frequently chosen. White saw one 

 hatched in the nest of the tit-lark. The nests of the green-bird, the 

 linnet, the white throat, and even of the wren have been mentioned as 

 the places of deposit. Dr. Jeuner's celebrated paper in the ' Philo- 

 sophical Transactions' threw great light on this subject, and many 

 other observers have corroborated in general that author's remarks. 

 Some indeed, and among them Dr. Fleming, have declared that in 

 some cases the Cuckoo constructs its own nest, but there can be little 

 doubt that there is no foundation for this assertion, and as little that 

 the nests and young supposed to be those of the Cuckoo on such 

 occasions were those of the goatsucker. Whether the bird actually 

 deposits the egg from her body while sitting on the nest has beeu 

 doubted ; and if the case of the deposit of one in a wren's nest be a 

 fact, it is almost conclusive that she does not so deposit it in all cases, 

 for the aperture of the wren's nest is in the side, and not more than 

 big enough to admit the wren. Another observer has recorded the 

 following facts : " Previous to the above-mentioned publication (Dr. 

 Jenner's) I had taken much pains towards investigating the several 

 phenomena I had noticed in this bird, and was so fortunate as to have 

 ocular proof of the fact, related by Dr. Jenner, of a young cuckoo 

 turning out of a hedge-sparrow's nest a young swallow I had put in 

 for the purpose of experiment. It is needless to recite all the cir- 

 cumstances attending this extraordinary bird, as that gentleman has 

 so amply explained it ; I shall therefore only add, that I first saw it 

 when a few days old, in the hedge-sparrow's nest, iu a garden close to 

 a cottage, the owner of which assured me the hedge-sparrow had four 

 eggs, when the cuckoo dropped in a fifth ; that on the morning the 

 young cuckoo was hatched, two young hedge-sparrows were also 

 excluded ; and that, on his return from work in the evening, nothing 

 was left in the nest but the cuckoo. At five or six days old, I took 

 it to my house, when I frequently saw it throw out the young swallow 

 for four or five days after. This singular action was performed by 

 insinuating itself under the swallow, and with its rump forcing it out 

 of the nest with a sort of jerk. Sometimes indeed it failed, after 

 much struggling, by reason of the strength of the swallow, which was 

 nearly full feathered ; but, after a small respite from the seeming 

 fatigue, it renewed its efforts, and seemed continually restless till it 

 succeeded. At the end of the fifth day this disposition ceased, and it 

 suffered the swallow to remain in the nest unmolested." This won- 

 derful instinct is absolutely necessary for the self-preservation of the 

 young Cuckoo, which, if it did not dispose of all other claimants on 

 the affection uf the parents, must perish for want, and, as it is, the 

 poor little birds to whose lot it falls to supply the demands of their 

 craving and gigantic nestling, have a weary time of it. Indeed there 

 are well recorded instances of their being assisted by others of their 

 own species, and by other insectivorous birds. 



The Romans considered the Cuckoo excellent eating. Pliny (lib. x. 

 c. 9) says that no bird can be compared to it for sweetness of flesh. 



C. glandariw, the Great Spotted Cuckoo, is a native of Senegal 

 and North Africa. It has beeu observed on the continent of Europe, 

 and a specimen is recorded by Mr. It. Ball as having been taken in 

 Ireland. 



Oxylophus (Sw.) Bill slender, considerably compressed nearly its 

 whole length ; upper mandible entire ; nostrils ovately round ; head 

 crested ; wings moderate, pointed, shorter than the tail-covers, the 

 fourth quill longest ; tarsi moderate, naked ; upper tail-covers long 

 but not rigid. The species inhabit the Old World ; and are parasitic. 



0. Levaillantii. Head crested, the feathers pointed ; plumage 

 above, black glossed with green ; band at the base of the quills, end 

 of the tail, and under parts of the body, white ; throat striped with 

 black. Wings long but rounded, fifth quill longest. Total length, 

 15 inches. Mr. Swainson, whose description we have given, says that, 

 unlike the true Cuckoos, these birds rear and provide for their young 

 in the ordinary manner. Locality, Senegal and the western coast of 

 Africa. 



