CUCKOOS. 



379 



was in a tender and pappy state, placed it carefully "in the gaping mouth of the young 

 Scythrops; this feeding process continued until the bird was capable of attending to 

 its own wants, which it now does, feeding in company with the Dacelo in the usual 

 manner." 



Structurally, the American members of the Cuculinae differ but slightly from their 

 Old World relatives. The former do not exhibit the peculiar parasitic breeding 



FIG. 182. Scyt?irops iu>vce-holland'u, channel-billed cuckoo. 



habits, and are, on the contrary, credited with great affection for their mate and for 

 their offspring. Still, some individuals, at least, possess the peculiarity of the eggs 

 ripening only with long intervals, which in the European species is thought to have 

 caused its breeding vagaries. Dr. T. M. Brewer, in speaking of our common yellow- 

 billed cuckoo, remarks as follows : 



" No writer besides Mr. Audubon makes any mention of, or appears to have been 

 aware of, the peculiar habits of these birds in hatching out their successive depositions 

 of eggs, one by one. In this respect they are eccentric, and do not always exhibit 



