Cuckoo. ZYGODACTYLI. CUCULUS. 97 
In the genus Cuculus and Musophaga, the outer hind-toe 
is capable of being directed forwards. Another modification 
in the form of the foot admitted into this order, is that of the 
Picus tridactylus, or three-toed woodpecker, a species agree- 
ing in other respects with the true woodpeckers. ae 
DIVISION I. 
Bill more or less curved. Two Toes before, and two be- 
hind. The Outer Hind-Toe sometimes reversible. 
. Genus XI. CUCKOO. CUCULUS, Linn. 
GENERIC CHARACTERS. 
Bill rather compressed, slightly curved, of the length of 
the head. Nostrils basal, round, margined by a naked and 
prominent membrane. Wings of mean length, the first quill- 
feather short, the third being the longest. 
Tail more or less wedge-shaped. Feet with two toes be- 
fore, and two behind, the outer hind-toe reversible; the an- 
terior toe joined at the base, those posterior entirely divided. 
Tarsi short, feathered a little below the knee. 
The members of this genus are mostly natives of the 
warmer regions of the Old and New Continents. They con- 
struct no nest, but deposit their eggs in the nests of small 
birds, to whom they consign the care of hatching and rearing 
their young. ‘They are fierce in disposition, and live solitary. 
—The food of the genus is principally composed of the larvee 
of the lepidopterous order of insects. Since the publication 
of “ Laruam’s Index Ornithologicus,” the genera Coucal 
(Poliphilus), Malkoha (Phenicophaus), Indicator (Indica- 
tor), and Turacao (Musophaga), have, very judiciously, and 
by well marked generic distinctions, been separated from the 
genus Cuculus, as now established. 
