the Family <f Cue id idee. 431 
derably wider at the base than it is high; although, beyond the 
nostrils, it rather suddenly contracts, and becomes compressed ; 2. 
the nostrils are naked, and undefended ; opening by a circular aper 
ture, round which is a narrow elevated rim ; 3. the upper mandible 
has a very slight sinuosity at its tip, assuming the form of that notch 
which is usually seen in dentirostral birds; 4. the wings are of 
considerable length, nearly reaching to two- thirds the length of the 
tail, and they are so far pointed, that beyond the fourth quill they 
begin rapidly to diminish in length ; 5. the feet are remarkably 
short, the tarsus not being longer than the hallux or real hind toe, 
and the tarsus is thickly clothed with feathers to nearly half its 
length. Finally, we may remark in this genus, and in nearly all 
the birds which belong to this sub-family, a decided elongation of 
the upper cover-feathers of the tail, which are always thick set, 
narrow, and generally pointed ; they are likewise so rigid that they 
can only be compared to those of the Ceblepyrince or caterpillar-catch- 
ers, forming the corresponding type in the circle of the Laniadce. 
Popular interest has been so much confined to the parasitic habits 
of the cuckoo, that upon many other points of its economy, we are 
still in comparative ignorance. Hence it is, that we cannot trace, 
so fully as could be wished, the influence which the structure just 
described exercises upon the habits and manners of such birds as 
possess it. We know, however, that all the genuine cuckoos fly 
with strength and rapidity. Most of them, in fact, are migratory 
birds. The common species comes to us every spring, from North- 
ern Africa, or Asia Minor, and returns in autumn. This we know 
from personal observation ; for vast numbers arrive in the spring in 
Sicily and Naples, in company with the Bee-eaters, Orioles, Hoopoes, 
and other migratory birds ; but after remaining a short time, they 
appear to direct their flight northward, from whence they return in 
August and September. The form of the nostrils in the typical 
cuckoos is very peculiar, and I believe that future observations will 
shew this structure to be intimately connected with their parasitic 
habits. The nests of those species in which the cuckoo deposits 
its eggs, we all know, are built in the thickest and most central 
parts of trees or bushes, to discover which, superior powers of smell 
have been given to the Toucans (who feed upon the eggs or young,) 
and, in a less degree, are probably conferred upon the cuckoos, to 
facilitate their search after a foster-parent for their young. How 
far this idea may be correct, future observations will determine. 
Certain, however, it is, that this peculiar-shaped nostril is restricted 
to such cuckoos as are parasitic, for the whole of the Coccyzince 
have the aperture of a lengthened oval shape, or in the form of a 
