48 BRITISH BIRDS, WITH THEIR NESTS AND EGGS. 
in the nests of other birds after the fashion of the American Cow-birds. Jerdon 
gives the following structural characters for this group :—‘ Bill slender, somewhat 
broad at the base, convex above, gently curved at the culmen; nostrils round, 
membranous; wings pointed; tail rounded, nearly square, subfurcate in one group; 
tibial feathers lengthened; tarsus very short, partly feathered; feet small; outer 
toe capable of being directed either backwards or sideways.” 
Family—CUCULID/. 
THE CucCKOO. 
Cuculus canorus, LANN. 
Dee over nearly the whole of Europe, though not common in 
summer in the extreme south; it also occurs over nearly the whole of 
Asia, although only a winter visitor to the greater part of India, Ceylon, and 
Burma; in winter, moreover, it visits the Philippines and Celebes. In Northern 
Africa it is common on migration, and a few remain to breed, but in winter it 
occurs as far south as Natal: it is a straggler to the Canaries and Madeira. 
In the British Islands the Cuckoo is common and generally distributed. 
The adult Cuckoo has the upper parts smoky ash-grey; wings more dusky, 
inner webs of the flights barred with white; tail dark slate-grey, with white tip 
and small indistinct white spots, mostly on the outer feathers; throat and breast 
ash-grey; remainder of under parts white, barred with dull brown: bill blackish, 
with yellow edges, the base paler; feet, and iris yellow. The sexes are generally 
alike in plumage, but the female is said sometimes to show a slight rufous tinge 
on the breast. The young have the upper parts grey, barred with dull chestnut, 
the feathers edged with white: iris at first grey, subsequently brown. 
The Cuckoo usually arrives in this country some time in April, and starts on 
the return migration in August or September, the young birds being the last to 
