210 
VEKTEBRATA. 
These United States species of cuckoo are common in Mexico and South America ; in these 
regions there are several other species : among them is the Mangrove Cuckoo, C. seniculus^ or C. 
minor, an inhabitant of Cayenne, but often visiting the Southern States. 
The Saurotherince or (xround- Cuckoos inhabit tropical America, live much on the ground or in 
low bushes, and feed on insects, worms, and seeds. One species, the Saurothera vetula, inhabits 
the West Indies, and is fifteen inches long. 
The Chaparral-Cock, Prairie-Cock, or Paisano, Geococcyx Mexicanus, figured by Cassin, is 
about twenty inches long, the tail being eleven inches ; the head has an erectile crest ; found in 
California, New Mexico, Texas, and Mexico. 
The genus CENTROPUS includes several species of what are called LarJc-heeled Cuckoos, from 
their having the claw of the hind toe elongated, as in the larks ; they are also called Pheas- 
ant- Cuckoos, from the great length of their tails. These are found in Africa, India, and the Asi- 
atic Islands ; they seek their food on the ground, and sometimes devour small reptiles. 
The Indicator ince Honey -Gruides are a group of small birds of this family, inhabiting the 
forests of Africa, India, and Borneo. They are fond of honey, and when they discover a hive of 
wild bees stored with this, they flutter around it, and thus direct the honey-seekers to it. It was 
formerly said that it would guide them through the woods to the honey, but this is no doubt a 
fiction. Tlie common species of Southern Africa, Indicator major and minor, construct bottle- 
shaped, pendent nests, with the opening downward. 
THE GREAT BLACK WOODPECKER. THE GREEN -n^OODPECKBR. 
THE PICIDJE OE WOODPECKEES. 
These are strong and vigorous birds, possessing a long, sharp bill, with which they bore into 
the bark of trees and the decayed parts of the limbs and trunks, in search of insects, as well as 
carve out holes for their nests. They live in forests, and ran up and down the trees, often ascend- 
ing in spiral lines, and continually tapping the surface, to discover the hiding-place of insects and 
