Order III. SCANSORES. 
Family IV. Cuculidje. 
The fifth Subfamily, 
CUCULINiE, or Cuckows, 
have the Bill broad, and rather depressed at the base, the culmen curved, and the sides compressed to 
the tip, which is entire or slightly emarginated ; the Nostrils basal and membranous, with the opening- 
exposed : the Wings long, and generally pointed : the Tail long, and usually graduated : the Tarsi short, 
partly clothed with feathers, and partly covered with broad scales. 
CucuLus Linn* 
Bill broad, and rather depressed at the base, with the culmen curved, and the sides gradually 
compressed towards the tip, which is entire and acute ; the gonys long and arched ; the nostrils basal, 
lateral, aiid placed in a short, broad, membranous groove, with the opening round and exposed. Wings 
lengthened and pointed, with the third quill the longest. Tail long and graduated, or even, and the 
outer feather on each side shorter than the others. Tarsi very short, feathered below the knee, and the 
exposed part covered with broad scales. Toes unequal ; the outer anterior toe the longest, and united to 
the inner one at the base. 
The species are peculiai* to the warmer portions of the Old World. They are migratory and solitary in their habits, 
frequenting the woody places and gardens in quest of their subsistence ; and generally perch in the bushes, or on the 
lower branches of trees, flying occasionally from one to another, at short distances. The food of these birds consists 
principally of caterpillars, which they kill by means of pressing the insects between the bill ; and, before swallowing them 
whole, the bird usually cuts off the hinder end, and by repeated jerks frees the insect of the intestinal canal : they 
sometimes feed on perfect lepidopterous insects. The note is loud, and uttered in a lengthened and melancholy 
manner, especially early in the morning and at the decline of day, and sometimes even during the night, while perching 
in an exposed situation. It is remarkable that the females of the species of this genus do not form any nest, but mostly 
deposit their eggs in the nests of sylvine birds, leaving to the foster-parent the entire hatching and rearing of the 
young, which, if it finds itself incommoded by the rightful owners of the nest, casts them out to perish on the ground, 
by which means the entire care of the foster-parent is bestowed upon the intruder. 
* Established by Linna?us in 1735. It embraces Chrysoeoccyx of M. Boie (1831) (with which Chalcites of M. Lesson (1831) and 
Lampromorpha of Vigors (1831) are synonymous), and Surniculus of M. Lesson (1831) (with which Pseudornis of Mr. Hodgson (1839) 
is synonymous). 
