CUCKOO-SHEIEES 
The cuckoo ^hrikes, not a very extensive famity of Old 
World birds, may perhaps be regarded as a link between the 
flycatchers and the shrikes. Tliey difier from the shrikes in 
that the feathers of the nimp are rather spiny in character. 
They are arboreal and insectivorous in habits. 
The beak is slightly hooked and the sexes sometimes very 
different in plumage. 
In the Malay Peninsula the gorgreous little minivets are 
perhaps the most striking members of the family : in some 
species the males arc dad in a livery of black and scarlet 
whereas the females of the same species are black and bright 
yellow. As the young males first resemble the females in 
plumage they present a very vivid appearance when assuming 
the scarlet adult dress. 
[^731 
