CUCKOOS. 99 



Drongos {Dicrurm) (see p. 133), in whose nests they are said to place [Case 64.] 

 their eggs. The smallest members of the group are the beautiful little 

 species of Chrysococcyx found in the Old World, and of these the 

 Emerald Cuckoo (C smaragdineus) (1387) of Africa is the most 

 lovely. The hosts selected by these birds are Sun-birds and Finches. 

 In America the subfamily is represented by the genus Coccyzus, the 

 members of which are not parasitic but build their own nests, and 

 are said to be most affectionate parents. The Yellow-billed Cuckoo 

 (C. americanus) (1391) has on several occasions visited Great Britain. 

 The Indian Koel (Eudynamis honorata) (1396) represents a fruit-eating 

 Oriental genus in which the plumage of the sexes is unlike, the male 

 being black and the female brown, variously barred, mottled and spotted 

 with black and white. The eggs are greenish, blotched with grey 

 and brown, and are placed in the nests of Crows. Lastly we must 

 mention the extraordinary Channel- bill Cuckoo [Scythrops nova- 

 hollandicB) (1398), with its great grooved bill, ranging from Celebes to 

 Australia. This bird places its eggs in the nests of the Piping Crows. 

 The Crow-Pheasants or Lark-heeled Cuckoos {Centropodina) include 

 but a siogle genus, Centropus (1392-1394), including more than thirty 

 species ranging from Africa and Southern Asia to Australia. They are 

 not parasitic, but make a large globular nest, generally with an entrance 

 in the side, and may often be seen walking on the ground. The Common 

 Coucal (C sinensis) (1392) and several allied forms are exhibited. 



The third subfamily, P hcenicophaince , includes a number of non- 

 parasitic forms, with very inferior powers of flight, inhabiting the thick 

 bush of the Old and New Worlds, and spending much of their time on 

 the ground. To this group belong the various American species of 

 Saurothera (1399-1400), Hyetomis (1401), and Piaya (1402-1404), 

 locally known as " Rainbirds " ; the Malkohas of the genera Zanclostomus 

 (1407), Rhopodytes (1407 a), Phcenicopha'es (1408), Rhamphococcyx 

 (1409-1410), Rhinortha (1405), and Taccocua (1406) from Eastern Asia 

 and the neighbouring islands ; the remarkable Philippine species Das?/- 

 lophus super ciliosus (1412) and Lepidogrammus cumingi (1413) ; and the 

 various species of Madagascar Cuckoos {Coua), of which the blue 

 species C. ccerulea (1415) is a striking example. 



The fourth subfamily, Neomorphincs, includes the large and handsome 

 Pheasant-Cuckoo [Carpococcyx radiatus) (1416) from Borneo, the well- 

 known Road-runner or Chaparral-cock {Geococcyx mexicanus) (1418), 

 from the thinly wooded or barren plains of South-western N. America, 

 and one or two other New World forms. 



Diplopterus ncevius (1419) and Dromococcyx phasianellus (1420) 

 represent the fifth subfamily Diplopterince, found in Central and South 

 America. 



Lastly the Crotophagince , also a New World group, includes the 



b2 



