BIRD FAMILIES 



THEIR CHARACTERISTICS AND THE REPRESENTATIVES OF EACH 

 FAMILY INCLUDED IN "BIRD NEIGHBORS" 



Order Coccyges: CUCKOOS AND KINGFISHERS 



Family Cuculidce: CUCKOOS 



Long, pigeon-shaped birds, whose backs are grayish brown 

 with a bronze lustre and whose under parts are whitish. Bill long 

 and curved. Tail long ; raised and drooped slowly while the 

 bird is perching. Two toes point forward and two backward. 

 Call-note loud and like a tree-toad's rattle. Song lacking. Birds 

 of low trees and undergrowth, where they also nest ; partial to 

 neighborhood of streams, or wherever the tent caterpillar is 

 abundant. Habits rather solitary, silent, and eccentric. Migratory. 



Yellow-billed Cuckoo. 



Black-billed Cuckoo. 



Family Alcedinidce: KINGFISHERS 



Large, top-heavy birds of streams and ponds. Usually seen 

 perching over the water looking for fish. Head crested ; upper 

 parts slate-blue ; underneath white, and belted with blue or 

 rusty. Bill large and heavy. Middle and outer toes joined for 

 half their length. Call-note loud and prolonged, like a policeman's 

 rattle. Solitary birds ; little inclined to rove from a chosen local- 

 ity. Migratory. 



Belted Kingfisher. 



Order Pici: WOODPECKERS 



Family Picidce: WOODPECKERS 



Medium-sized and small birds, usually with plumage black 

 and white, and always with some red feathers about the head. 



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