68 BIRDS' NESTS 



other sub-orders and families in the extensive order 

 of birds scientifically termed Coraciiformes. We have, 

 for instance, already seen that the Goatsuckers are 

 nestless; others, the Owlet Nightjars of Australia 

 (CEgothcles) lay their eggs in holes in trees; whilst 

 another family of birds in the same sub-order Capri- 

 mulgi, the Frogmouths, Podargidae, make a crude 

 flat nest of sticks. Many other birds in this order 

 make little or no nest, in the sense of an absolute 

 bed for their eggs or young, but as they usually 

 tunnel or burrow in the ground or in timber we 

 shall have occasion to enter more fully into their 

 domestic arrangements in a later chapter (conf. 

 chap iv.). Another large and important assemblage 

 of birds that make little or no provision for their eggs 

 contains the Parrots or Psittaciformes, but as these 

 birds again breed in holes we must also reserve a 

 description of their *' nests." Then, again, the 

 Cuckoos and Plantain-eaters associated in the order 

 Cuculiformes are representatives of a very low type 

 of avine architecture. Many of the former birds 

 are parasitic, and have already been dealt with in 

 the previous chapter. Other Cuckoos make nests 

 in the ordinary way, crude in type, and some of 

 which may here be briefly described. The nests of 

 the Yellow-billed Cuckoo (Coccyzus americanus) and 

 the Black-billed Cuckoo (C. erythrophthalmus) (both 

 remarkably small for the size of the birds) are usually 

 made on the flat, almost horizontal, branch of a tree 



