384 Sc^vjssouiis. BIRDS. Ci)culiu.h. 
Gray and some other ornithologists place in this family 
ecvcral species of birds which appear to have much in 
common with the Pulfbirds and Barbacous which we have 
placed among the Kingfishers. Tliey are distinguished, 
liowever, by having two toes in front and two behind, 
althougli the inner hind toe is short. They inhabit 
the dei)ths of the forests, where they reside in solitude 
and seek their insect food. They nestle in the holes 
of trees. The present species, which inhabits Guiana, 
is about seven inches in length, and is black above, 
and yellowish-white beneath, with the forehead and 
chin red. 
THE GREEN INDIAN BARBET {Megalaima viridis), 
a species allied to the jireceding, is of a green colour, 
with tlie head and neck grayish-brown, the wing pri- 
maries brown, and the orbits white. It is six inches 
and a half in length. Tliis sjiccies dwells in the forests 
of India, chiefly on the mountains, where it is seen 
percliing on the liighest branches of trees. 
THE CEYLON BARBET {]\Iegalaima zeilanica) is 
green, with the head and neck jiale-brown, and the 
cheeks yellow ; its bill is red. This bird, which is 
about an inch shorter than the preceding, is an abun- 
dant species in Ceylon, where it breeds in the holes of 
trees, laying three or four })ure white eggs. It feeds 
upon fruits and berries of all kinds, and probably also 
upon insects and small birds, as Mr. Layard found 
that a specimen confined in an aviary destroyed and 
swallowed whole the little Amadincn which were placed 
with it. AVhen confined in a small cage this indivi- 
dual set to work to dig his way through the wood, and 
hammered upon it vigorously in the manner of a wood- 
pecker. 
Family IV.— CUCULID.F. 
This last family of the Scansorial birds includes the 
common Cuckoo of this country, together with a con- 
siderable number of other species, which agree with it 
more or less in structure and habits. These birds, 
with but few exceptions, have a slender compressed 
bill, of which the upper mandible is arched along the 
ridge, and furnished with a notch on each margin near 
the tip. The gape is generally very wide, extending 
back nearly to the eyes, almost as in the Fissirostral 
division of the I’asseres, with which it must be con- 
fessed that the Cuckoos have some affinity. The 
nostrils are placed at the base of the upper mandible 
in a membranous groove ; the tail is long and ample, 
with the tips of its feathers rounded ; the tarsi are 
rather short, and the toes long, but unequal in length. 
The birds of this family occur in both hemispheres, 
and, indeed, in most parts of the world. They are 
most abundaiit in warm climates, and those which are 
mot with in cold or temperate countries are generally 
summer birds of passage. They' all feed principally' 
upon insects. In their breeding they exhibit a remark- 
able dissimilarity ; for, whilst many species build a 
nest and bring up their young in the mariner of birds 
in general, others, amoirgst which is our own Cuckoo, 
make over all the labour of incubation and rearing the 
young to other birds, in whose nests they deposit their 
tjgfis- 
, THE COMMON CUCKOO ( Cuculus canorits)— Plate 1 V , 
fig. GO. — This bird, whose note, at any rate, is weli 
known in this country, although many are unacquainted 
with him by sight, is about the size of a small pigeon, 
but, from the elongation of his tail, he measures nearly 
a foot in length. The whole of the upper parts of the 
body are of a bluish-ash colour, and this tint also 
extends over the throat and chest; the abdomen is 
w’hitCjWith numer-ous blackish- brown transverse streaks; 
and the tail is black, with white spots at the extremiiy, 
and along the shafts and margins of the feathers. It 
is an inhabitant of the greater part of the eastern hemi- 
sphere, occurring as a summer visitor in Europe, and 
the other northern countries which it frequents, and 
retiring for the winter into the warmer regions of Africa 
and Southern Asia. In this country it arrives in April, 
and takes its departure again in August; during the 
intervening period its curious note, closely resembling 
the word Cuclcoo, may be constantly heard about woods, 
orchards, and hedgerows. In the present day most 
people hear this note with pleasure, from its association 
with the commencement of fine weather, but formerly 
it was frequently regarded as a sound of evil omen, and 
no doubt some relics of this superstitious feeling may' 
still linger in agricultural districts. 
The food of the Cuckoo consists of insects and their 
larvae, and amongst the latter he seems to prefer the 
large hairy caterpillars of the tiger moth, commonly 
know'n to country people under the name of woolly 
bears. The hairs with which these caterpillars are 
clothed, remain, with the legs of beetles and other indi- 
gestible portions of the food, in the stomach, whence 
they' are no doubt ejected in the same way as the 
feathers and bones of small birds by the birds of prey. 
A considerable portion of the hairs, however, seem to 
adhere to the avails of the stomach, which in this w’ay are 
frequently covered with a hairy coat. The Cuckoo is 
usually seen perched upon the branch of a tree or bush, 
the shortness of its tarsi rendering motion on the ground 
awkward to it, although it frequently descends amongst 
the herbage at the base of the hedges to search for its 
favourite caterpillars. Its flight is tolerably swilt, and 
it glides with easy motion from tree to tree. 
We liave now to speak of that singular and my'ste- 
rious instinct which prompts the Cuckoo and many 
other species of its family to deposit their eggs in the 
nests of other birds, thus saving themselves all the 
trouble of building a nest, hatching their eggs, and 
bringing up their young. Although it is impossible to 
say for what purpose this curious instinct has been 
implanted in these birds, it is, nevertheless, completely 
in accordance with their peculiar structure and mode 
of reproduction. They jiroduce their eggs only at 
intervals of several days, and as their residence in our 
temperate climate is but short, the young could hardly 
be all brought to maturity by their own parents in time 
to take their departure with them. The egg of the 
Cuckoo is of very small size in comparison with the 
bi> d ; its weight does not exceed that of the skylark’s 
egg, although the comparative size of the two birds is 
as four to one. Hence, the egg of the parasite is readily 
introduced into the nest of its intended foster parent, and 
the latter is not alarmed by the presence in its habitation 
