BIRD FAMILIES 
THEIR CHARACTERISTICS AND THE REPRESENTATIVES OF EACH 
FAMILY INCLUDED IN ‘‘ BIRD NEIGHBORS” 
Order Coccyges: CUCKOOS AND KINGFISHERS 
Family Cuculide: 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 Alcedinide : 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 Pict: WOODPECKERS 
Family Picide: 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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