the Family of Cuculidce. 431 



derably wider at the base than it is high ; although, beyond the 

 nostrils, it rather suddenly contracts, and becomes compressed ; 2. 

 the nostrils are naked, and undefended ; opening by a circular aper 

 ture, round which is a narrow elevated rim ; 3. the upper mandible 

 has a very slight sinuosity at its tip, assuming the form of that notch 

 which is usually seen in dentirostral birds ; 4. the wings are of 

 considerable length, nearly reaching to two- thirds the length of the 

 tail, and they are so far pointed, that beyond the fourth quill they 

 begin rapidly to diminish in length; 5. the feet are remarkably 

 short, the tarsus not being longer than the hallux or real hind toe, 

 and the tarsus is thickly clothed with feathers to nearly half its 

 length. Finally, we may remark in this genus, and in nearly all 

 the birds which belong to this sub-family, a decided elongation of 

 the upper cover-feathers of the tail, which are always thick set, 

 narrow, and generally pointed ; they are likewise so rigid that they 

 can only be compared to those of the Ceblepyrrnce or caterpillar-catch- 

 ers, forming the corresponding type in the circle of the Laniadce. 



Popular interest has been so much confined to the parasitic habits 

 of the cuckoo, that upon many other points of its economy, we are 

 still in comparative ignorance. Hence it is, that we cannot trace, 

 so fully as could be wished, the influence which the structure just 

 described exercises upon the habits and manners of such birds as 

 possess it. We know, however, that all the genuine cuckoos fly 

 with strength and rapidity. Most of them, in fact, are migratory 

 birds. The common species comes to us every spring, from North- 

 ern Africa, or Asia Minor, and returns in autumn. This we know 

 from personal observation ; for vast numbers arrive in the spring in 

 Sicily and Naples, in company with the Bee-eaters, Orioles, Hoopoes, 

 and other migratory birds ; but after remaining a short time, they 

 appear to direct their flight northward, from whence they return in 

 August and September. The form of the nostrils in the typical 

 cuckoos is very peculiar, and I believe that future observations will 

 shew this structure to be intimately connected with their parasitic 

 habits. The nests of those species in which the cuckoo deposits 

 its eggs, we all know, are built in the thickest and most central 

 parts of trees or bushes, to discover which, superior powers of smell 

 have been given to the Toucans (who feed upon the eggs or young,) 

 and, in a less degree, are probably conferred upon the cuckoos, to 

 facilitate their search after a foster-parent for their young. How 

 far this idea may be correct, future observations will determine. 

 Certain, however, it is, that this peculiar-shaped nostril is restricted 

 to such cuckoos as are parasitic, for the whole of the Coccyzince 

 have the aperture of a lengthened oval shape, or in the form of a 



