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THE CUCKOO. 
In general appearance tlie Cuckoo bears some resemblance to a bird of prey, but it has 
little of the predaceous nature. It is rather curious that small birds have a tendency to treat 
the Cuckoo much as they treat the hawks and owls, following it wherever it flies in the open 
country, and attending it through the air. 
The color of the plumage is bluish gray above, with the exception of the wings and tail, 
which are black, and barred with white on the exterior feathers. The chin, neck, and breast 
are ashen-gray, and the abdomen and under wing-coverts are white, barred with slaty-gray. 
Sometimes the color varies from these tints, and a white specimen may occasionally be 
found. Yearling birds of both sexes are hair-brown above, barred profusely with brownish- 
red : the quill-feathers of the wing are reddish-brown, barred with white, while those of the 
tail are of the same dark tinge, but without the white bars, and spotted with white along the 
centre of the feathers. The whole of the under portions of the body are gray- white, barred 
with brown, and the short tail is tipped with white. A little white also appears on the tips 
of some of the feathers on the upper surface of the body. The total length of the adult bird 
is about fourteen inches. The female is rather smaller than her mate, and may be distin- 
guished from the opposite sex by the brown bars upon her neck, and the brown tinge upon 
the back and wings. 
