THE CRESTED CUCKOOS. 21 



Indo-Malayan Sub-region, and the three Sub-families Neo- 

 morphincB, Diplopterince^ and Crotophagince, which are only to 

 be met with in the tropics of the New World. In the British 

 Islands we have only to deal with the first of these Sub-families. 



THE TRUE CUCKOOS. SUB-FAMILY CUCULIN.E. 



These chiefly differ from the other members of the Family 

 in their long and pointed wing, showing that they are birds of 

 strong flight, the majority of the species being migratory, and 

 some, like our Common Cuckoo, traversing enormous dis- 

 tances. In the other Sub-families, such as the Lark-heeled and 

 the Bush Cuckoos, the wing is concave and fits closely to the 

 shape of the body, showing that the birds are not migratory and 

 incapable of sustained flights. 



Captain Shelley, the latest exponent of the family, recog- 

 nises seventeen genera of the Cucultna, of which three have 

 to be treated of as British. 



THE CRESTED CUCKOOS. GENUS COCCYSTES. 



Coccystes, Gloger, Handb. Naturg. p. 203 (1842). 



Type, C. glandarius (Z.). 



Of the eight species composing this genus, five are peculiar 

 to Africa, one is Indian, one inhabits both Africa and India, 

 while the eighth is a migratory bird, which nests in Southern 

 Europe and visits Africa in the winter. All the species have a 

 conspicuous crest of elongated feathers, and have the nasal 

 aperture elongated, so as to form a linear oval. 



I. THE GREAT SPOTTED CUCKOO. COCCYSTES GLANDARIUS. 



Cucuhis glandarius, Linn. Syst. Nat. i. p. 169 (1766) ; Seebohm, 



Br. B. ii. p. 386 (1884). 

 Coccystes glandarius, Newton, ed. Yarr. Br. B. ii. 408 (1881); 



Dresser, B. Eur. v. p. 219, pi. 300 (1874); B. O. U. 



List Br. B. p. 84 (1883) ; Saunders, Man. p. 279 (1889); 



Shelley, Cat. B. Brit. Mus. xix. p. 212 (1891). 

 Oxylophus glandarius, Lilford, Col. Fig. Br. B. pt. xvi. (1890). 

 Adult Male. General colour above ashy-brown, with white 



