CUCKOO. 



333 



- A 

 FIG. 364. WRYNECK. 



>eculiar habit of bending the 



FIG. 363. GREAT BLACK WOODPECKER. 



less. The wryneck derives its name from 

 neck sideways, so that the head . 



is turned towards the back, with ^ 



the eyes half closed. <J|| 



The Cuckoos (Cuculus) have ^Hl 



a moderate beak, well cleft and 

 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 de- 

 posits her eggs 'in the nests of 

 other birds. The strange nurses =^ : 

 to whom the cuckoo confides her 

 young become not only good - 

 mothers to the progeny that does 

 not belong to them, but neglect 

 their own offspring; nay, im- 

 probable as it may appear, the 

 young cuckoos push the rival 

 nestlings out of the nests, of 

 which they take possession for 



three weeks after their birth, and FlG . ,6=?. CI-CKOO. 



for five weeks longer their adopted mothers supply them with food. 



