Cuckoos.] 



MUSEUM OF ANIMATED NATURE. 



359 



white spots only on the interior webs, but all are 

 tipped with white. 



1598. — Le Vaillant's Cdckoo 



{Oxylophus Levaillantii, Swains.). Mr. Swainson 

 thus characters the genus Oxylophus, which he has 

 established, taking this species as the type : — 



Bill slender, considerably compressed nearly its 

 whole length ; upper mandible entire ; nostrils 

 ovately round; head crested; wings moderate, 

 pointed, shorter than the tail-coverts, the fourth quill 

 longest ; tarsi moderate, naked ; upper tail-coverts 

 long, but not rigid. Inhabits the Old World : para- 

 sitic. 



Le Vaillant's cuckoo has the head crested with 

 pointed feathers; plumage above, black glossed 

 with green ; band at the base of the quills, end of 

 the tail, and other parts of the body, white ; throat 

 striped with black. Wings long, but rounded ; fifth 

 quill longest. Total length fifteen 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. It 

 IS a native of Senegal and the Western Coast of 

 Africa. 



1599.— TuE Yellow-billed Cuckoo 

 (Erythrophrys Ame.ricanus, Swains.). Cuculus Ca- 

 rolinensis, Wilson ; Coccyzus Americanus, Prince of 

 Musignano ; Carolina Cuckoo, Latham. 



According to Audubon, the flight of the bird is 

 rapid, silent, and horizontal, as it moves from one 

 tree to another, or across a field or river, and is ge- 

 nerally continued amongst the branches of the trees 

 in our woods. When making its way among the 

 branches, it occasionally inclines the body to either 

 side, so as alternately to show its whole upper or 

 under parts. During its southward migration, it 

 flies high in the air, and in such loose flocks that 

 the birds might seem to follow each other, instead 

 of their keeping company together. On the other I 

 hand, early in March the greater number enter our 

 southern boundaries singly, the males arriving first, 

 and the females a few weeks after. They do not 

 fly in a continued Une, but in a broad front, as, 

 while travelling with great rapidity in a steani-tjoat, 

 so as to include a range of a hundred miles in one 

 day, I have observed this cuckoo crossing the Mis- 

 sissippi at many different points on the same day. 

 At this season they resort to the deepest shades of 

 the forests, and intimate their presence by the fre- 

 quent repetition of their dull and unmusical notes, 

 which are not unlike those of the young bull-frog. 

 These notes may be represented by the word cow, 

 cow, repeated eight or ten times with increasing ra- 

 pidity. In fact, from the resemblance of its notes 

 to that word, this cuckoo is named cow-bird in 

 nearly every part of the Union. The Dutch farmers 

 of Pennsylvania know it better by the name of 

 Rain crow, and in Louisiana the French settlers 

 call it Coucou. It robs smaller birds of their eggs, 

 which it sucks on all occasions, and is cowardly and 

 shy, without being vigilant. On this latter account 

 it often falls a prey to several species of hawks, of 

 which the pigeon-hawk (Falco columbarius) may be 

 considered as its most dangerous enemy. It pre- 

 fers the southern states for its residence, and w'hen 

 very mild winters occur in Louisiana some indi- 

 viduals remain there, not finding it necessary to go 

 farther south. This bird is not abundant anywhere, 

 and yet is found very far north. I have met with it 

 in all the low grounds and damp places in Massa- 

 chusetts, along the line of Upper Canada, pretty 

 high on the Mississippi and Arkansas, and in every 

 state between these boundary-lines. Its appearance 

 in the state of New York seldom takes place before 

 the beginning of May, and at Green Bay not until 

 the middle of that month. A pair here and there 

 seem to appropriate certain tracts to themselves, 

 where they rear their young in peace and plenty. 

 They feed on insects, such as caterpillars and but- 

 terflies, as well as on berries of many kinds, evincing 

 a special predilection for the mulberry. In autumn 

 they eat many grapes, and I have seen them sup- 

 porting themselves by a momentary motion of their 

 wings opposite a bunch, as if selecting the ripest, 

 when they would seize it and return to a branch, re- 

 peating their visits in this manner until satiated. 

 They now and then descend to the ground to pick 

 up a wood snail or a beetle. They are extremely 

 awkward at walking, and move in an ambling man- 

 ner, or leap along sidewise, for which the shortness 

 of their legs is ample excuse. They are seldom seen 

 perched conspicuously on a twig, but, on the con- 

 trary, are generally to be found amongst the thickest 

 boughs and foliage, where they emit their notes 

 until late in autumn, at which time they discon- 

 tinue them. The nest is simple, flat, composed of 

 a few dry sticks and grass, formed much like that of 

 the common dove, and, like it, fastened to a hori- 

 zontal branch, often within the reach of man, who 

 seldom disturbs it. It makes no particular selection 

 ei to situation or the nature of the tree, but settles 



anywhere indiscriminately. The eggs are four or 

 five, of a rather elongated oval form, and bright 

 green colour. They rear only one brood in a sea- 

 son, unless the eggs are removed or destroyed. The 

 young are principally fed with insects during the 

 first weeks. Towards autumn they beconie very 

 fat, and are fit for being eaten, although few persons, 

 except the Creoles of Louisiana, shoot them for the 

 table. 



That accurate observer of nature Mr. Wilson, the 

 American ornithologist, to his account of this bird, 

 adds the following interesting observations : — " In 

 examining this bird by dissection, the inner mem- 

 brane of the gizzard, which in many other species 

 is so hard and muscular, in this is extremely lax 

 and soft, and capable of great distension ; and what 

 is remarkable, is covered with a growth of fine 

 down or hair, of a light fawn-colour. It is difficult 

 to ascertain the particular purpose which nature 

 intends by this excrescence ; perhaps it may serve 

 to shield the tender parts from the irritating effects 

 produced by the hairs of certain caterpillars, some 

 of which are said to be almost equal to the sting of 

 a nettle." 



We have already described the hairy lining of the 

 stomach of our British cuckoo, which from its regu- 

 larity and closeness Mr. Thompson was at first 

 inclined to believe of natural growth, but which 

 proved to be the hair of the caterpillar of the tiger- 

 moth. Now we have little or no hesitation in say- 

 ing that the hairs which Wilson found in the stomach 

 of the present species, and which he too believed to 

 be of spontaneous growth, were also those of some 

 caterpillar on which the bird abundantly feeds. 

 We are not aware that this observation of Wilson's 

 has attracted the notice of naturalists, to whose 

 attention we would point it out. 



16C0. — ^The Gilded Cuckoo 



(Chalcites aurattis, Swainson). Cuculus auratus of 

 authors. This brilliant little Cuckoo, the Didric of 

 Le Vaillant (so called from its cry), is abundant in 

 Caifraria and Namaqua-land. In manners, as in 

 form, it closely approximates to our European 

 cuckoo ; the female deposits its eggs in the nests of 

 other birds, and, as Le Vaillant's observations seem 

 to prove, she conveys them in her beak, or rather 

 throat, to the nest selected. 



The following observations from Le Vaillant's 

 narrative may not be uninteresting : — Speaking 

 of its numbers he states that his Hottentot ser- 

 vant Klaas shot two hundred and ten males, one 

 hundred and thirty females, and one hundred and 

 three young ones — in all four hundred and forty- 

 three, and that numbers more might easily have 

 been procured ; beside which he found eighty-three 

 of their eggs in as many nests of insectivorous birds. 

 He then proceeds : — " Although this bird be so com- 

 mon if not in the immediate environs, yet about 

 one hundred leagues from Cape Town, it was scarcely 

 known in Europe before my voyages, and in France 

 there was only one mutilated and badly preserved 

 specimen of it to be seen in the Royal Museum at 

 Paris. I myself brought over one hundred and 

 fifty males and females, as well as young birds, 

 which are now exhibited in the chief cabinets of 

 Europe. To this beautiful species I am indebted 

 for my chief knowledge of the cuckoo family. From 

 the facility I had of leisurely and successfully ob- 

 serving its manners, I always entertained the hope 

 that I should one day surprise a female Didric in the 

 act of depositing its egg in the nest of another bird, 

 but having been disappointed in this respect, I began 

 to imagine that my ignorance on this point would 

 never be removed, when one day havmg killed a 

 female of this species, and wishing to introduce a 

 plug of hemp into his throat according to my custom 

 after bringing down a bird, in order to prevent the 

 , blood from staining its plumage, I was not a little 

 ' surprised, on opening its bill for this purpose, to find 

 I in its throat an entire egg, which I knew immedi- 

 I ately from its form, size, and beautiful whiteness, to 

 ' belong to the Didric. Delighted at length, after so 

 I many useless efforts, at having obtained a confir- 

 mation of my suspicions, I loudly called my faithful 

 Klaas, who was only a few paces distant from me, 

 to whom I imparted my discovery with much plea- 

 I sure, as he had used his best exertions to second my 



I views. Klaas, on seeing the egg in the bird's gullet, 

 told me that after killing female cuokoos, he had 



,; frequently observed a newly broken egg lying upon 

 the ground near where they had fallen, which he 

 supposed they had dropped in their fall, being at 



[ that moment ready to lay. I recollect very well 



II that when this good Hottentot brought me the fruits 

 I of his sports, he frequently remarked, as he pointed 

 j to the cuckoo, ' This one laid her egg as she fell from 

 I the tree.' Although I was convinced from this cir- 

 i cumstance that the female cuckoo deposits her egg in 

 j the nests of other birds by conveying it in her beak, I 

 j was desirous 1o collect what facts I could on the sub- 

 ject ; Klaas and I, therefore, began to shoot as many 

 cuckoos as we could meet with, which accounts for 



the great number of this species we procured. 

 However, among all the specimens there occurred 

 only one instance similar to that I have just men- 

 tioned, namely, that of a second female, which was 

 transporting her egg in her mouth, like the 

 former." 



In length this species is about seven inches : the 

 plumage above is rich glossy green with golden re- 

 flexions ; the head is marked with stripes of white, 

 with which the secondary quills and many of the 

 wing-coverts are tipped ; under parts white. In the 

 female the general colour is reddish gold or bronzy 

 hue, with all the markings more obscure. 



1601. — The Eastern Black Cuckoo 



{Eudynamys Orientalis). Cuculus Orientalis, Linn. 

 The generic characters of Eudynamys are as fol- 

 lows : — Bill strong, thick, the under mandible not 

 curved, and angulated beneath ; upper mandible 

 entire ; wings pointed, the fourth quill longest ; 

 tarsi much shorter than the longest toe ; the upper 

 part plumed ; rump and tail-coverts soft. Inhabits 

 the Old World. 



We know little of the habits of the Black Cuckoo, 

 excepting that berries most probably form a consi- 

 derable part of its diet, as those of the Cassytha 

 were found in the stomach of a specimen procured 

 by Mr. Caley at Mindanao, where it appears to be 

 an accidental visitor. The male and female differ 

 greatly in colour. Plumage of male, black with 

 metallic lustre ; bill yellow. Female : — Above shin- 

 ing greenish brown spotted with white ; tail-feathers 

 banded with white ; whitish beneath, transversely 

 undulated with greenish brown. Synonyms — Cuculus 

 Mindanensis, Linn. Coucou tachet6 de Mindanao 

 ' Enl.' 277; Mindanao Cuckoo, Lath. 



1602.— The Ani 



(^Crotophaga Ani). This singular bird with zygo- 

 dactyle feet occupies a double position. Mr. 

 Swainson places it within the pale of the Cuculidas ; 

 but perhaps it really forms the type of a separate 

 family. The bill is short, very much compressed, 

 arched, elevated, and surmounted by a vertical tren- 

 chant crest ; nostrils basal, open ; fourth and fifth 

 quills the longest ; tail long and rounded. Lo- 

 cality, the tropical regions of the New World and 

 the West Indian Islands. This species is the 

 Razor-billed Blackbird of Jamaica of Catesby, the 

 Savannah Blackbird of the English colonists, and 

 the Great Blackbird of Sloane. 



In Guiana, these birds are named Ani, and Anno 

 in Paraguay. In Mexico they are named, accord- 

 ing to Hernandez, Cacalototl ; and in the Antilles 

 Bouts de Petun, Amangoua, Diables de Savannes, 

 and Perroquets noirs. In Cayenne their common 

 name is Bouilleur de Canari. Their general colour 

 is black, with more or less metallic reflexions. 



In size they equal a common turtle-dove. The 

 Anis lives in flocks, and are so far from timid, that 

 when they see their companions fall before the gun, 

 the survivors fly but a short way, and then again 

 pitch. Bushes, the skirts of woods, and the borders 

 of flooded savannahs are their favourite haunts. 

 Their food consists of small lizards, insects, and 

 seeds. Many pairs are said to use the same nest, 

 built on the branches of trees, and of large dimen- 

 sions when considered in relation to the number of 

 couples occupying it, where they lay and hatch 

 their young in concert. 



According to Brown (' Hist. Jamaica ') they live 

 chiefly upon ticks and other small vermin, and may 

 frequently be seen jumping about all the cows and 

 oxen in the fields ; nay, they are often observed to 

 fly on their backs, unless they lie down for them, 

 which, if much troubled with ticks, they generally 

 do when they see the birds about them ; but if the 

 beast be heedless, they hop once or twice round it, 

 looking it very earnestly in the face every time they 

 pass, as if they seemed to know that it was only re- 

 quisite to be seen to be indulged. They are very 

 noisy birds, and one of the most common sorts in all 

 the pastures of Jamaica. Their flight is low and 

 short. 



The Ani is easily tamed, and may be taught to 

 utter words. Its flesh is said to be extremely dis- 

 agreeable. 



In c-;osing our sketch of the cuckoos, we may 

 advert to some other groups of birds usually associ- 

 ated with them, as the Honey-Guides (Indicator) of 

 Africa ; the Coucals, or lark-heeled Cuckoos 

 (Centropus) ; and the Malcohas (Fhoenicophaus), 

 which must be regarded as barely coming within 

 the family section. 



The genus Indicator is characterised by the beak 

 being short, high, and almost conical, like that of a 

 sparrow, and by the form of the tail, which consists 

 of twelve feathers, and is at the same time a little 

 graduated and a little forked. The skin is very 

 tough, so as to resist the stings of the bees whose 

 nests the birds despoil. The celebrated Honey- 

 Guide of South Africa (Indicator Vaillantii) is an 

 example. The Coucais (Centropus) have a long 



