35S 



MUSEUM OF ANIMATED NATURE. 



[Cuckoos. 



The omnivorous appetite of these birds affords 

 us a clue to the reasons why the beak is so greatly 

 developed, and _\et so light from the delicacy of ils 

 structure ; it is at once an organ of prehension and 

 a feeler. The toucan plunges it into the fissures 

 and holes of trees, where various birds habitually 

 nidify, and there feels for eggs or nestlings, and 

 draws them forth ; it can penetrate the basket-work 

 of nests suspended from the branches, or the more 

 solid structure of such as are composed of strong 

 materials. At the same time it can use this organ 

 in the acquisitiou of fruits, which, being plucked 

 one by one, it jerks up before swallowing. In its 

 mode of feeding, its long elastic feathery tongue 

 is of great use, enabling the bird to turn the morsel 

 about, and co-operating with the movements of the 

 mandibles. 



The toucans and aracaris breed in the hollows of 

 decayed trees, which they enlarge, and render com- 

 modious by means of the beak, as Faber and 

 Oviedus were assured ; and it would appear that 

 from this habit the Spaniards have applied the 

 name of Carpentero to these birds, which the Bra- 

 zilians call Tacataca, in imitation of the sound made 

 by chipping the decayed wood. Oviedus, in his 

 ' History of the West Indies,' observes that no bird 

 better defends her young against the attacks of the 

 monkeys, so dangerous to nestlings, than the toucan ; 

 for when she perceives the approach of these 

 enemies, she so settles herself in her nest, as to put 

 her bill out at the hole, and gives the monkeys 

 such a reception with its sharp point, that they in- 

 stantly retreat, glad to escape. 



The toucans differ from the aracaris not only in 

 the points we have already enumerated, but also in 

 the circumstance that the females resemble the 

 males in the colour of 1he plumage, but are rather 

 less in all their proportions, while in many of the 

 aracaris there is considerable difference in the 

 colouring of the two sexes. The young of both 

 genera assume at an eariy age the permanent tints, 

 but their bills are not fully developed for a con- 

 siderable period : during life the colouring of the 

 bills is generally very vivid, but after death the 

 bright hues fade and become sometimes almost 

 obsolete — a fact which should be borne in mind 

 by those who examine specimens in cabinets or 

 museums. 



Family CUCULID^ (CUCKOOS). 

 This family is very extensive, and has been divided 

 into several sections or subfamilies by various 

 naturalists, not without reason, for these minor 

 groups, with great, modification of form, exhibit 

 very different habits and manners. Of this nume- 

 rous family one species visits our island, the well- 

 known cuckoo, herald of the spring ; but instances 

 are on record of the Yellow-billed American Cuckoo 

 (Erythrophrys Americanus) having appeared both 

 in England and Ireland ; these visits were only 

 accidental, the birds having most probably been 

 driven out of their course, when migrating from 

 the northern latitudes of America to the south. In 

 every instance, we believe, it was in autumn that 

 these birds were seen and killed, and that too in the 

 western districts of our island and in Ireland : viz. 

 twice in the latter island, once in Wales, and once 

 in Cornwall. 



Mr. Swainson, speaking of the Cuculidfe as a 

 family, of which he gives the following definition, 

 " feet not strictly scansorial, very short, nostrils 

 naked, tail-coverts remarkably long," adds, " So 

 faintly is the scansorial structure indicated in these 

 birds, that but for their natural habits, joined to the 

 position of their toes, we should not suspect they 

 were connected with the more typical groups of the 

 tribe, as they undoubtedly are. They neither use 

 their bill for climbing like parrots, or for making 

 holes in the trees like woodpeckers, neither can 

 they mount the perpendicular stems like the Cer- 

 thiadae, or creepers; yet they decidedly climb, 

 though in a manner peculiar to themselves. Hav- 

 ing frequently seen different species of the Brazilian 

 cuckoos (forming part of the genus Coccyzus) in 

 their native forests, I may safely affirm that they 

 climb in all other directions than that of the per- 

 pendicular. Their flight is so feeble from the ex- 

 treme shortness of their wings" (this does not apply 

 to our species and many others), "that it is evidently 

 performed with difficulty, and it is never exercised 

 but to convey them from one tree to another, and 

 these flights in the thickly-wooded tracts of tropical 

 America are of course very short ; they alight upon 

 the highest boughs., and immediately "begin to ex- 

 plore the horizontal and slanting ramifications with 

 the greatest assiduity, threading the most tangled 

 mazes, and leaving none unexamined. All soft 

 insects, inhabiting such situations lying in their 

 route, become their prey, and the quantities that are 

 thus destroyed must be very great. In passing 

 from one bough to another they simply hop without 

 using their wings, and their motions" are so quick 

 that an unpractised observer, even if placed im- 



mediately beneath the tree, would soon lose sight of 

 the bird. The Brazilian hunters give their cuckoos 

 the general name of cat's-tails ; nor is the epithet 

 inappropriate, for their long hanging tails, no less 

 than their mode of climbing the branches, give 

 them some distant resemblance to that quadruped. 

 I have no doubt that the great length of tail 

 possessed by nearly all the cuckoos is given them 

 as a sort of balance, just as a rope-dancer with such 

 an instrument in his hands preserves his footing 

 when otherwise he would assuredly fall." This use 

 of the tail, we may observe, is not peculiar to cuckoos 

 only ; nor do we agree with Mr. Swainson in his 

 views generally, while we fully appreciate the 

 graphic description he has given of the Brazilian 

 cuckoos, the habits of which he had ample oppor- 

 tunity of studying. 



Warm and temperate regions are the favourite 

 abodes of the Cuculidae ; many of them are migratory, 

 passing the winter in the tropical regions, where 

 they find a congenial asylum. Insects and their 

 larvae, together with soft fruits, constitute their diet. 

 Some species make no nest, but deposit their 

 eggs in the nests of other birds, by whom the young 

 cuckoos are reared to the destruction of their own 

 brood. With certain exceptions the Cuculidae are 

 distinguished for great powers of flight, and have 

 long and pointed wings. 



1594, 1595, 1596.— The Cuckoo 

 (Cucidus canorus). This species is an example of 

 the typical group of the Cuculidas. The bill is 

 somewhat curved and compressed, with a wide 

 gape, and round naked nostrils at the base of the 

 upper mandible; the wings are pointed; the tail 

 somewhat, wedge-shaped; the tarsi short and fea- 

 thered a little way beneath the upper joint. 



The cuckoo is the »ox.kuI of the Greeks ; Cuculus 

 and Coccyx of the Latins; Cucculo, Cucco, Cuco, 

 Cucho, Cuccu, of the modern Italians ; Cocou, 

 Coucou, Cocqu, of the French ; Kukuk and Kuckuck 

 of the Germans ; Gjok of the Fauna Suecica , Gjoeg 

 of the Danes ; Gouk of the Norwegians ; Cog of the 

 ancient British ; Gowk, Provincial English. 



This well-known bird arrives in our islands early 

 in spring : in White's ' Naturalist's Calendar' it is 

 noted as being first heard April the 7th ; and in 

 Markwick's April the 15th, and last heard June the 

 28th. By the first of July it has generally taken its 

 departure for Northern Africa. In Ireland, accord- 

 ing to Mr. Thompson, the cuckoo is usually heard 

 from the 16th to the 20th of April, and departs at the 

 end of June, but he adds that in the year 1838 the 

 stay of the cuckoo was remarkably prolonged, and 

 the period of its arrival later than ordinary, and 

 that one was heard at the Falls near Belfast on the 

 7th of July. " The young birds of the year gene- 

 rally remain till towards the end of August, so late 

 as the 27th of which month they have been observed 

 in Antrim." The Bishop of Norwich, in his ' Fa- 

 miliar History of Birds,' records an instance of 

 about forty cuckoos being congregated in a garden 

 in the county of Down, from the 18th to the 22nd 

 of July, and, with the exception of two which were 

 smaller than the rest, taking their departure at that 

 time. These were no doubt all young birds of the 

 year, and it is probable that the two smallest were 

 never able to follow the others, but remained to 

 perish. Of such a character were the benumbed 

 denuded birds which have been occasionally found 

 in hollow trees or the thickest part of furze-bushes, 

 whither they had crept for shelter, and which have 

 been noticed by Willughby, Bewick, and others. 



The cuckoo is insectivorous in its diet, and will 

 sometimes feed upon the wing. Gilbert White says, 

 '- In July I saw several cuckoos skimming over a 

 large pond, and found, after some observation, that 

 they were feeding on the Libellulee, or dragon-flies, 

 some of which they caught as they settled on the 

 weeds, and some as they were on the wing." 

 The favourite food of this bird, however, are the 

 hairy caterpillars of some of the lepidopterous order ; 

 these it kills by passing them through the sharp 

 edges of its mandibles, it then nips off the hinder 

 end of the caterpillar, and with a jerk or two clears 

 the body of the alimentary canal, and immediately 

 swallows it whole. With "the hairs of these cater- 

 pillars the stomach is often completely coated. In 

 a communication by Mr. Thompson to the Zoolo- 

 gical Society in 1834, he states that in three cuckoos, 

 examined in 1833, the stomach, with the exception 

 of some small sharp gravel, was entirely empty and 

 coated closely over with hair. 



" Attention was called to this, that the hair with 

 which it is lined might be observed. From its close 

 adhesion to the inner surface of the stomach, and 

 from the regularity with which it is arranged, Mr, 

 Thompson was at first disposed to consider this hair 

 as of spontaneous growth ; but part of the stomach 

 being subjected to maceration in water, and after- 

 wards viewed through a microscope of high power, 

 the hairs proved, to the entire satisfaction of Mr. 

 Owen and himself, to be altogether borrowed from 



the larvae of the tiger-moth (Arctia caja), the only 

 species found in the stomach of several cuckoos, 

 from different parts of the north of Ireland, which 

 were examined by Mr. Thompson in the months of 

 May and June, 1833, and whose stomachs were simi- 

 larly coated." (' Proceeds. Zool. Soc' 1839, p. 29.) 



The well-known notes of the cuckoo are confined 

 only to the male, the female making only a chatter- 

 ing noise. 



The singular habit of the cuckoo in depositing its 

 eggs in the nests of other birds is too well substan- 

 tiated to admit of a doubt ; the nests usually chosen 

 are those of the Hedge-sparrow, Titlark, White- 

 throat, Wagtail, &c. The egg is very small in com- 

 parison with the size of the cuckoo, scarcely ex- 

 ceeding that of the common chaffinch : when the 

 young cuckoo is hatched, and acquired a little 

 strength, guided by the instinct of self-preservation, 

 it dislodges all its weaker companions by insinuating 

 itself under them, and with a sort of jerk forcing 

 them overboard. Thus it secures to itself the exclu- 

 sive attention of its dupes of foster-parents. Gilbert 

 White mentions a young cuckoo found in the nest 

 of a titlark, which he describes as being very fierce 

 and pugnacious, pursuing his finger as he teased it 

 for many feet from the nest, and sparring and buffet- 

 ing with its wings like a game-cock ; and Selby al- 

 ludes to the same bold and pugnacious disposition. 



Many attempts have been made to keep the 

 cuckoo alive in captivity, and several have lived 

 with care to the middle of winter, when they have 

 died. Mr. Thompson, however, instances two ex- 

 ceptions : one of these lived for more than a year at 

 Cranmore, near Belfast, the residence of John Tem- 

 pleton, Esq. ; it was procured on the 26th of July, 

 1820, and died in consequence of an accident, Jan- 

 uary the 10th, 1822. It was originally taken from a 

 titlark's nest. Its engaging manners, says Mr. Tem- 

 pleton, were the delight of the whole family and the 

 admiration of strangers. " It was generally fed on 

 hard-boiled eggs, and occasionally with cate'rpillars; 

 it would sometimes eat forty or fifty at a time of 

 those of the Papilio Brassidse ; it, however, showed a 

 decided preference for rough ones, as those of the 

 Papilio UrticcB : a seeming treat was a little mouse 

 about one quarter grown, which it would hold in its 

 bill and beat against the ground, or anything hard, 

 until the animal became soft, when it exhibited 

 great powers of extending its throat and swallow- 

 ing. What, however, was most extraordinary, it 

 was never known to drink ; though when presented 

 with a drop of water at the end of a finger or straw 

 it would sip it, and it seemed to delight, when seated 

 on its mistress's or other person's hand, to put its bill 

 into their mouths and sip saliva. It delighted very 

 much in heat and sitting in the sunshine, and its 

 leathers were so much broken by its striking them 

 against the furniture, that it. could fly but very im- 

 perfectly, and was apparently very thankful to any 

 person who would help it upon the first sash of the 

 window. At other times it sat. upon the fender, 

 turning itself in various directions, and spreading its 

 wings and feathers to receive the heat, of which it 

 could bear a temperature equal to 100 degrees, 

 for a considerable time, wilh seeming satisfaction. 

 During cold weather it slept at its mistress's bed- 

 side, covered with a piece of flannel, which was well 

 warmed previous to its going to rest. With this at- 

 tention it generally remained quiescent, till morning; 

 but on feeling cold, sometimes presumed so far as to 

 creep under the bed-clothes. It was only to those 

 from whom it had received some hurt or persecution 

 that it expressed dislike or fear, which it did by 

 raising its neck-feathers and putting itself in an at- 

 titude of defence. It never uttered the cry of the 

 male, cuckoo, but sometimes when persons were in 

 the room laughing it would apparently join and 

 emit a noise somewhat like the barking of a little 

 dog. At other times the only sound it made was 

 a kind of low chattering expressive of pleasure when 

 it got into a warm place, or on seeing its mistress 

 after she had been absent some hours. It received 

 the unlucky tramp which finally killed it, from 

 having lost too much the apprehension of injury." 

 (< Ann. and Mag. of Nat. Hist.' 1842, p. 223.) 



Fig, 1597 represents a young cuckoo in the nest 

 of the hedge-sparrow. 



The young cuckoo (Fig. 1595) differs greatly in 

 colouring from the adult, and is of more rufous tint, 

 transversely barred with dusky black. In length 

 the adult male is about 14 inches ; weight about 4^ 

 ounces. Bill black, yellowish at the base of the up- 

 per mandible : inside of mouth red. Irides yellow. 

 Head and whole upper part of the bird dark ash- 

 colour. Throat, under side of the neck, and upper 

 part of the breast pale ash, the latter sometimes in- 

 clining to rufous brown ; lower part of the breast 

 and belly white with transverse undulating black 

 lines. Quills, dusky, inner webs barred with white 

 oval spots. Tail-feathers ten, of unequal length; 

 two middle ones iilack, dashed with ash and tipped 

 with white, the re=>t black, with white spots on each 

 side of the shaft. The lateral feathers in some have 



