36 



GENUS VII. 

 CUCULUS. 



Bill somewhat arched \ tongue short entire ; tail of 

 ten feathers ; toes two backward, two forward. 



CANORUS. CUCKOO. 



C. Capite, gula, collo, jugulo cinereis ; pectore ven- 

 treque albidusfusco transversim striatis ; dorso, 

 alisque nigricantibus ; reclricibus nigricantibus 

 externe, iutermediisque medio albido-maculatis . 

 Shaw. 



The bill is black ; the mouth red ; irides yellow ; 

 plumage above ash colour; beneath waved with trans- 

 verse black lines ; the tail is long rounded and spot- 

 ted with white ; the legs are short and yellow ; the 

 claws white. 



The cuckoo appears early in spring, and is well 

 known by its note. 



They feed chiefly on insects, particularly the larvce 

 of the Lepidopterous ones, even the most hairy. 



For a particular description and history of this 

 bird, see Phil. Trans. 78 wl. Mont. Orn. Die. and 

 Whites Nat. Calendar. 



The eggs are white, sprinkled with ash colour. These 

 it deposits, not in a nest of its own construction, but in that 



