THE WORLD'S BIRDS. 33 



America the Black-billed and Yellow-billed Cuckoos 

 (Coccyzus erythrophthalmus and C. americanus) are 

 familiar birds ; they build open twig -nests and 

 lay blue eggs, but, like our species, which they do 

 not equal in size, eat hairy caterpillars. In 

 colour they are light drab above and white below. 

 In New Zealand there are two migratory species, 

 the small bronze-green Chalcococcyx lucidus and 

 the long-tailed Urodynamis taitensis, coloured 

 something like a hen kestrel, which is beginning 

 to parasitize the acclimatized English birds as well 

 as native species. 



CURASSOWS (Cracida}. 



DIAGNOSIS. Large fowl-like birds, with long flat tails, 

 well developed hind-toe t and all front toes connected 

 at base by web. 



SIZE. From that of a hen turkey to that of a bantam; 



FORM. Bill short, sometimes stout, often enlarged at 

 base of forehead. Feet with medium shanks and 

 four toes, the hinder well developed and set low,- 

 the front ones connected by webs at base, the claws 

 curved. Wings short and rounded ; tail long, 

 rounded, flat, but with the feathers slightly arching 

 horizontally. Head usually crested. 



PLUMAGE. Generally dark, bronzed, brown, or black; 

 Sometimes a sex-difference, the females in this case 

 often barred ; but no seasonal change. Young like 

 adult females. 



YOUNG. Active, and feeding themselves ; with striped 

 down at first ; soon fledging, and following their 

 parents in the trees. 



NEST. A platform of sticks in a tree ; the male aids 

 in construction. 



EGGS. Several ; spotless white and rough-shelled. 



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UNIVERSITY 



