THE CRUDEST NEST FORMS 69 



or in some dense thorn bush, and, as is usual with 

 most crude nest forms, are flat and shallow, made 

 externally of slender sticks and roots and lined with 

 finer roots and dry grass, the model of the whole 

 structure somewhat resembling that of a Pigeon. 

 Incidentally we may remark that the eggs of the 

 first-named species are often laid at considerable 

 intervals, so that young birds and fresh eggs may be 

 found in the nest at the same time — a fact that also 

 tends to refute the theory of Dr Baldamus, already 

 alluded to in the preceding chapter {conf. p. 57). 

 Other nest-building Cuckoos are the Coucals (Centro- 

 pus) and the birds forming the genus Cotia, although 

 their architecture is but of a crude type. The Lark- 

 heeled Cuckoo (Centropus toulou) is, however, said to 

 make a rough globular or dome-shaped nest, with an 

 entrance at the side scarcely big enough for the 

 passage of the old birds. Some species in this genus, 

 however, build more elaborate nests, which we shall 

 notice in a future chapter (conf. p. 212). The two 

 species of North American Cuckoo (Geococcyx) also 

 make their own rude nests ; whilst lastly may be 

 mentioned the Anis (Crotophaga), also inhabitants of 

 the tropical portions of the New World, and specially 

 remarkable for the fact that several females band 

 together and share one common nest, which is of a 

 crude character. 



More familiar builders of the crudest nest-forms 

 are the Pigeons (Columbiformes). The lowest type of 



