134 



lia and the tropical parts of the Old World. Their habit is to sit and watch their 

 prey, .d^irt after it and seize it on the wing, and return to their perch to swallow 

 it. The fish-eating members of the family nest for the most part in holes in the 

 banks of streams. 



CER YLE. Boie. Kingfishers. 



143. C. ALCYON. Boie. ' Belted Kittgfisher. Ashy blue above, a bluish band 

 across breast; white below ; female with sides and band across belly chestnut; tail 

 barred with white; L. 13; W. 6; T. 3^. Common throughout North America; 

 only forced south by the freezing of the waters. The oily and compact plumage 

 resists the water into which they dive for their food. 



FAMILY XXIV. CUCULIDtE. 



{The Cuckoos) 



Bill compressed, lengthened, decurved, without rictal bristles or nasal tufts. 

 Tail long and soft, of eight to ten feathers. Tongue not extensible. Feet zygo- 

 dactyle by reversion of the fourth toe. About two hundred species in various 

 parts of the world. The European cuckoo [C. canonis') is famous, like our cow- 

 bird, for forcing other birds to incubate its eggs and raise its young. 



COCCYGUS. Vieillot. Anmican Cuckoos. 



144. C. AMERICANUS. (L.) Bon. Yellow-Billed Cuckoo. Olive gray or 

 drab. Bill yellow below ; wings with much cinnamon red ; middle tail feathers like 

 the back; outer ones black with white tips; L. 12. Common summer resident 

 from early May to September. 



A shy, unfamiliar bird in the tops of high, open woods. The bird utters the 

 notes koo-koo-koo, repeated indefinitely, during the changes in the air preceding 

 rain, and so is known as the rain crow. Their food is mainly large winged insects, 

 though, like the jay and crow blackbird, they rob other birds of their eggs. The 

 bird sits as soon as the first egg is laid, and so the nest may contain fresh eggs, 

 those partly developed, others just hatched and nearly full-fledged young, (Audo 

 bon.) 



145. C. ERYTHROPHTHALMUS. Bd. Black-Billed Cuckoo. Olive gray 

 or drab. Bill chiefly black ; wings with little or no reddish ; tail feathers all 

 brownish; slightly smaller than the preceding ; L. iij-a- Summer resident ; not as 

 common as the above. Habits are substantially similar, and the two species are 

 confounded often by unscientific observers. 



FAMILY XXV. PICID^. 



{The Woodpeckers.^ 



Bill stout, usually straight, with the tip truncate or acute, fitted for hammering 

 ■or boring into wood. Tongue long, flattish, barbed, capable of great protrusion, 



