CUCULID^ 



173 



B. 



Key of the Genera. 



Wings long and pointed ; difference between the 

 length of the primaries and secondaries 

 greater than the length of the tarsus 

 (Cuculinis). 



a. No occipital crest. 



a'. Plumage never metalho ; sexes alike Cuculus, p. VJ4:. 



6'. Plumage brUliantly metallic ; sexes dis- 

 similar Chrysocoecyx, p. 184. 



b. A strong crest on the head Coccystes, p. 192. 



Wings short and rounded ; the difference be- 

 tween the primaries and secondaries about / 



half the length of the tarsus {CentroxnncB). 

 a. Hind claw elongated to twice the length of 



the others, straight and lark-hke Centropus, p. 202. 



5. Hmd claw curved and normal, not longer than 



the others Ceuthynochares, p. 210. 



Subfamily I. CUCULIN^. 



Wings long, pointed and flat, not fitting to the sides of the body ; 

 distance between the tips of the primaries and secondaries greater 

 than the length of the tarsus or culmen ; tarsus more or less 

 feathered in front and also covered by the long thigh feathers. 



Fig. 58. Wing of Cuculus gularis. x 



Anatomical characters are : the absence of the femoro-caudal 

 muscle in the thigh, and the presence of a simple undivided band of 

 feathers on each side of the naked pectoro-ventral tract. Nearly all 

 the birds contained in this subfamily are of parasitic habits. 



