98 



BIRD GALLEKY. 



Order XXVII. CUCULIFORMES. Cqckoo-tribe. 



The birds comprising this order form a fairly well-marked group, and 

 are divided into two families, the Cuculidce or Cuckoos, and the Muso- 

 phagidm or Turacos. In tlie former the foot is of the true zygodactylous 

 type, witli the first and fourth toes turned backwards and the second 

 and third forwards ; but in the Turacos the fourth toe is less completely 

 reversed, and we find what is known as a semi-zygodactylous type, 

 similar to that seen in the Madagascar Rollers. 



Family 1. Cuculid^. Cuckoos. (Plate XXII. fig. 1.) 



[Case 64 1 ^^^ Cuculidce are a cosmopolitan family, feeding on insects and 

 fruits, and specially interesting on account of the peculiar parasitic 

 habits of many of the species, which impose the burden of hatching 

 their eggs and rearing their young on other birds. One or more eggs 

 are placed in the nest of some suitable foster-mother, whose own young 

 are subsequently ejected by the young Cuckoo. Many Cuckoos, 

 however, are not parasitic, but build their own nests and rear their 

 young in the ordinary manner. 



Six subfamilies are recognised ; the first including the true Cuckoos 

 [Cuculinoi), hawk-like birds, of which our common Cuckoo {Cuculus 

 canorus) (1385) [PI. XXIT. fig. 1], from whose note the family derives 

 its name, is the type. It is a summer visitor to Great Britain, Europe, 

 and Asia, migrating southwards in winter as far as Australia and 

 South Africa. The female deposits her egg on the ground, and conveys 

 it in her bill to the nest of the foster-parent, the latter being generally 

 some insectivorous bird such as a Pipit, Wagtail, or Warbler, etc. The 

 eggs laid by different individuals differ greatly in colour, and often 

 resemble those of the host j the most remarkable type of egg is blue, 

 and generally found in nests of the Redstart, when it is only to be 

 distinguished by its greater size. The large Hawk-Cuckoo {Hierococcyx 

 sparverioides) (1384) of the Himalaya and Eastern Asia closely resembles 

 in appearance and flight a species of Sparrow-Hawk [Accipiter virgatits) 

 found in the same countries. This resemblance is quite unexplained ; 

 but, as it is sufficient to cause great alarm to small birds in general, is 

 possibly connected with the breeding habits. Another well-known 

 member is the so-called " Brain-f ever-Bird " {Caccomantis merulinus) 

 (1386). 



A well-known European and African species is the Great Spotted 

 Cuckoo {Coccystes giandarius) (1382), a rare straggler to Great Britain. 

 The host selected by this bird is usually a Magpie or Crow, and from 

 four to eight eggs have been found in one nest. The Drongo-Cuckoos 

 {Surniculus) (1383) are small black species closely resembling the 



