308 



GEOGRAPHICAL ZOOLOGY. 



[part IV. 



Family 58.— CUCULID^. (35 Genera, 180 Species.) 



Generai, Distribution. 



The Cuculidoe, of which our well-known Cuckoo is one of the 

 most widely distributed types, are essentially a tropical group 

 of weak insectivorous birds, abounding in varied forms in all 

 the warmer parts of the globe, but very scarce or only appearing 

 as migrants in the temperate and colder zones. Many of the 

 smaller Eastern species are adorned with the most intense 

 golden or violet metallic lustre, while some of the larger forms 

 have gaily-coloured bills or bare patches of bright red on the 

 cheeks. Many of the cuckoos of the Eastern Hemisphere are 

 parasitic, laying their eggs in other birds' nests ; and they are also 

 remarkable for the manner in which they resemble other birds, 

 as hawks, pheasants, or drongo-shrikes. The distribution of the 

 Cuckoo family is rather remarkable. They abound most in the 

 Oriental region, which produces no less than 18 genera, of wliich 

 11 are peculiar ; the Australian has 8, most of which are also Ori- 

 ental, but 3 are peculiar, one of these being confined to Celebes 

 and closely allied to an Oriental group ; the Ethiopian region has 

 only 7 genera, all of which are Oriental but three, 2 of these being 

 peculiar to Madagascar, and the other common to Madagascar 

 and Africa. America has 11 genera, all quite distinct from those 

 of the Eastern Hemisphere, and only three enter the Nearctic 

 region, one species extending to Canada. 



Kemembering our conclusions as to the early history of the 

 several regions, these facts enable us to indicate, with consider- 

 able probability, the origin and mode of dispersal of the cuckoos. 

 They were almost certainly developed in the Oriental and Palse- 

 arctic regions, but reached the Neotropical at a very early date, 

 where they have since been completely isolated. Africa must 

 have long remained without cuckoos, the earliest immigration 



