CLIMBING BIRDS. 



437 



slightly arched ; the tail is long and composed of ten quills. They 

 are birds of passage and live upon insects. The female Cuckoo makes 

 no nest and takes no care of her young ; she deposits her eggs in the 

 nests of other birds. The strange nurses, to whom the Cuckoo con- 

 rides her young, become not only good mothers to the progeny that 

 does not belong to them, but neglect their own offspring ; nay, 

 improbable as it may appear, the young Cuckoos pu>h the rival 

 nestlings out of the nests, of which they take possession for three 

 weeks after their birth, and for five weeks longer their adopted mothers 

 supply them with food. 



The Toucans (Rampliastos)* are at once distinguishable by their 

 enormous beak, which is almost as large and as long as their body ; 

 internally it is light and cellular, and at its margin irregularly 



FlG. 368. KEEL- BEAKED TOUCAN. 



toothed. Their tongue is long, narrow, and furnished on each side 

 with barbs like a feather. These strangely-constructed birds inhabit 

 the tropical parts of America ; they live in flocks, and feed on fruits 



* pd/jLtyos, ramphos, a leal;. 



