298 BIRDS. 
The Taur Cuckoos 
Have a moderately strong bill, short tarsi, and ten quills im the tail. 
They are celebrated for the singular habit of laying their eggs in the nests 
of other insectivorous birds, and, what is not less extraordinary, these 
latter, which are often a considerably smaller species, become the parents 
of, and take as much care of, the young Cuckoo as of their own true off- 
spring, and that too, even when its introduction has been preceded, which 
often happens, by the destruction of their eggs. The cause of this phe- 
nomenon, which is unique in the history of birds, is unknown. Heris- 
sant has attributed it to the position of the gizzard, which, in fact, is 
placed much farther back in the abdomen, and is less protected by the 
sternum than in other birds. The cca are long, and the lower larynx 
has but a single muscle proper. There is one of them very generally 
found throughout Europe. 
C. canorus, L.; Enl. 811. (The Common Cuckoo). An ash- 
coloured grey: white belly, striped transversely with black; sides of 
the tail spotted with white; a red takes the place of the grey in the 
young bird. But another species, 
C. glandarius, Edw. 57; Naum. 130, the male; Col. 414, the fe- 
male*, which is sometimes seen in Europe, has a more sonorous 
note, and is crested and spotted. 
The warm countries of both hemispheres produce several others. 
Africa, in particular, has several beautiful species, of a green co- 
lour, more or less gilded; their bill is rather more depressed than 
that of the common Cuckoo f. 
In others, most of whom have a spotted plumage, the bill is ver- 
tically higher§. The 
Covas, Faill. 
Only differ from the Cuckoos in their elevated tarsi[]. They build in 
* Cuculus pisanus, Gm., is the young. 
+ Cuculus capensis, Vaill. Afr., pl. 200, which is probably nothing more than a va- 
riety of the common one;—solitarius, Nob., Vaill. 266;—radiatus, Sonner. Voy. 1, 
pl. 79;—clamosus, Nob. Vaill. 204, 205;—edolius, Nob. Vaill. 207, 208. N.B. Cue. 
serratus, Sparm. Mus. Carls. 3, is the male; melanoleucos, Enl. 272, the female ;—co- 
romandus, En]. 274, 2, and a var., Vaill. 213;—americanus, Enl. 816, or carolinensis, 
Wils. III, exviii, 1;—erythrophtalmus, Ib. 2?—flavus, Enl. 814. 
N.B. The C. mindanensis, Enl. 277, and its male, C. orientalis, Enl. 274, 1, are se- 
parated from them by M. Vigors and Horsf. under the generic name of Eupynamys. 
{ Cue. auratus, Enl. 657, Vaill. 211; classii, Vaiil. 210;—lucidus, Lath. Syn. I, pl. 
xxiii, and Col. 102, ££ 1;—capreus, Id. Supp. 134, and Vieill. Gal 43;—chalcites, T. 
Col. 102, f. 2, the female. 
§ Cuc. punctatus, Enl. 771, and scolopaceus, 586, and perhaps even maculatus, 764, 
are varieties;—honoratus, Enl. 294, Vaill. 216;—taitentis, Sparm. Mus. Carls. 32;— 
mindanensis, Enl. 277 ;—gaira, Vieill. Gal. 44; Freycin. Voy. Zool. 26. Why Vieillot 
makes an Anis of it, it is impossible to say. 
|| From this division’ Vieillot makes his genus Coccyzus, Gal. 41. It is the 
Macropus of Spix, Cuc. madagascariensis, Enl. 825;—C. Lalandii, T. Col. 440;— 
cristatus, Enl. 589; Vaill. 217 ;—ceruleus, 295, 2; Vaill. 218;—nevius, Enl. 812;— 
cayanus, Enl. 211;—C. brachypterus, T. or Macropus caixana, Spix, 43;—C. sericulus, 
Enl. 813;—Macropus phasianellus, Spix, 42. 
